The Day the World Went Away
by ElsaEditorial
Summary: Daryl almost lost Beth, and now that he has her back, he will stop at nothing to keep her safe. Rated M for language, violence, and smut.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I decided to try my hand at a Bethyl story, especially because the new season will begin soon without her. :(**** This story takes place right after Beth's kidnapping in season 4. I've been writing an AU 1920s Daryl/OC story, but not many people have taken to it so far, so I wanted to start this side project for something set back in the ZA. **

**Credit for the story title goes to Nine Inch Nails.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

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><p><em>There is a place that still remains<em>

_It eats the fear, it eats the pain_

_The sweetest price he'll have to pay_

_The day the whole world went away._

Daryl was exhausted. His lungs burned and his muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed himself on. He felt as though he had been running for several hours, and judging from the lightening sky that signaled dawn's approach, he probably had been. He hadn't stopped running since Beth had been taken. He couldn't stop. The white cross that had been on the back window of the car was burned into his mind.

He had passed several walkers along the way, their decaying arms reaching out for him as he ran, but he passed them by. His thoughts were only of Beth and of getting her back. She was the only thing that mattered.

Daryl knew there was a time when he would have given up on her, when he wouldn't have kept running like he was running now. Back before he knew her, and before he had begun to let her in to his life. Back when she was just another dead girl, according to her words. But she was so much more than that now. She was starting to get under his skin, and he was starting to let her. He was letting his guard down around her for the first time in a long time. And she had helped him let go of some of the demons he had been carrying his whole life. At that moment in time, she was his everything. His world. She had been ripped from him, and he wasn't going to let her go without a fight.

He thought of her innocent, wide-eyed expression when she'd realized that she was the reason he had started believing in good people again. He wished that he could continue that discussion with her now, and tell her outright that she was all that was good and pure in the world and he couldn't help seeing the world in a better light when she was around. She was like sunshine, and he wished he could have told her so. His legs threatened to give out beneath him, but he forced himself to keep going. Every step could be bringing him closer to Beth.

He heard the walkers before he saw them. It didn't sound like there were a lot of them, maybe three or four, and they were making sounds that told him they were eating something. The road took a sharp curve, and as he rounded it, the source of the sounds came into view. Two of the biters in question were devouring a body on the ground. Daryl's eyes traveled to the mess of twisted metal and glass behind their meal, and a panic flooded him as he realized that it was the remains of the car that had taken Beth. The white cross on the back window was still there, but the front of the car was crushed like a tin can into a tree. Skid marks all over the road showed how the car had swerved violently before smashing into the large tree. Another body had been thrown (or dragged) from the car a few feet away from where the first two walkers were eating, and a third ghoul was shoveling entrails from the second body into its mouth.

Daryl sprinted toward the wreck with renewed energy, quickly sending a bolt through one of the walkers' heads on his approach. He unsheathed his hunting knife and dispatched the other two. He frantically examined the partially devoured corpses on the side of the road and was met with brief relief when he saw that neither of them were Beth. He rushed to the crumpled car and peered inside one of the cracked windows.

There she was, her torso slumped across the middle console and her legs sprawled across the backseat. Her hands were zip-tied, but she held a bloody knife loosely in her grip. She was unconscious, and Daryl couldn't tell if she was breathing. The front doors of the car were completely collapsed, and the back doors appeared to be locked. He hurriedly bashed in the one of the cracked back windows and unlocked the door, wrenching it open and tossing his crossbow to the side. He grabbed Beth's limp body and pulled her to him, praying to a god he didn't even believe in that she wasn't dead.

With a huge burst of relief he felt a pulse. The side of her head was covered in dried blood, however, and Daryl knew the wound on her forehead would need stitches. Daryl quickly cut the zip ties on her wrists and held her unconscious body to his chest, holding her as tight as he dared in light of her injuries. He couldn't stop the tears from falling, and he rocked her back and forth against him as he sobbed into her hair.

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><p>Beth probably didn't weigh 100 pounds soaking wet, but she felt heavy as Daryl carried her through the woods. After running for hours and carrying her through the woods for several miles, he wasn't sure how much farther he could keep carrying her. But he knew that he had to get her somewhere safe. Now that she was back in his arms, his exhaustion was the last thing on his mind.<p>

Dawn had broken over the horizon, which was a good thing because it allowed Daryl to see where it was going as he traipsed through the woods with Beth dangling limply in his arms. His vision was starting to blur, and he blinked hard each time it did. When the small hunting cabin came into view, he made sure to blink several times to make sure it was real. He stumbled toward it, only sure it wasn't a figment of his imagination when he stumbled onto the steps of the front porch.

He tried to slow his labored breathing as he laid Beth down on the warped wood boards of the screened in porch. He quickly approached the front door and knocked on it loudly. When no sounds of shambling dead came from inside, he pulled open the door and scooped Beth back up in his arms. He made his way inside and kicked the door shut behind him.

The cabin was dark and smelled moldy, but thankfully no smell of decaying corpses reached him. Two mismatched old couches surrounded a stone fireplace in the living room, and a tiny kitchen with a wood stove overlooked the living room area. He shuffled over to one of the couches and gently laid Beth down on one of them. He quickly strode over to the other three doors that remained closed in the small hallway of the cabin. One led to a linen closet, which was stocked with blankets, sheets, and towels, and another to the small bathroom. He took a quick breath before opening the door to what had to be the bedroom, thankfully finding it empty. A double bed was pushed against the wall with a plain chest of drawers in the corner of the room. He let loose a breath of relief and made his way into the bathroom.

After raiding the cupboard and the medicine cabinet, he found a first aid kit, but nothing to stitch Beth's wound with. He sighed in frustration and pulled the first aid kit from the cabinet. It was better than nothing. Still, he kept searching through all the cabinets in the place until he finally located a basic sewing kit in an end table drawer in the living room. The needle and thread in the kit weren't meant for stitching wounds, but they would have to do.

Daryl hurried back to the living room and looked at Beth laying on the couch, her eyes still closed but her breathing even. Her golden blonde hair fell around her, creating a bit of a curtain for her face. He took a deep breath and brushed the hair away from her face to reveal the deep cut in the corner of her forehead where she had most likely hit the center console. Daryl had never stitched up a wound before, but he knew he had to try.

He grabbed a small spray can of antiseptic from the first aid kit and doused the wound with it. He then quickly threaded the needle with the black thread, the only color of thread that had been in the simple sewing kit, and held the needle above the wound, afraid to pierce it through her skin. He frowned at himself and told himself to nut up and do it. Beth needed this wound stitched up, and he was the only one around to do it. He blinked hard and moved the needle steadily toward the wound. As he began to stitch it up, he realized that it was a lot easier than he had thought it would be. Before long, he was done. The stitches weren't pretty, but they would hold.

Daryl began inspecting Beth for other injuries. Her arms had several bruises, but looked fine. He raised her shirt to reveal a large purple bruise along her ribs, but aside from that, her torso seemed to be fine. Daryl didn't even want to think about removing her jeans, so he just settled for hoping that her legs were in okay shape.

He sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost her. He felt tears stinging his eyes and he blinked them away, refusing to cry again. He took a few deep breaths to push his feelings away before standing and scooping Beth off the couch. He walked steadily to the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He stared at her for several long moments before tentatively laying down next to her. He wanted to move close to her, to protect her, but he didn't want to frighten her when she woke up. He settled for laying close to her on the bed and not touching her in any way.

It didn't take long for Daryl to succumb to the exhaustion that had overtaken him. Beth had almost been taken from him, but he had gotten her back. He wasn't ever letting her go again.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so pleased with the response I got on the first chapter! I'm glad you guys are liking this story so far. Here is chapter two! Please review! :)**

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><p>Despite how exhausted Daryl was, he found himself unable to stay asleep. He kept having dreams about the car that had taken Beth speeding away from him, and he would wake with a start and frantically check the bed next to him to make sure she was actually there. After waking from his third nightmare, he decided to give up on sleep for the present moment. He really should be keeping watch anyway.<p>

Daryl carefully crawled off the bed, not wanting to wake Beth. His eyes felt heavy and swollen, but he felt better than he had a few hours ago when he had found this place. He watched Beth's steady, slow breathing for a few moments before wandering into the main part of the cabin and out the front door.

The position of the sun told him that it was close to midday, meaning he had been asleep off and on for five hours or so. He realized suddenly that he had no idea where they were or how far away this cabin was from the funeral home where Beth had been taken. He had run after the car for so long and had carried Beth through the woods in a state of pure exhaustion, and he was completely turned around. It wasn't like him to lose his sense of direction, and he felt frustrated by it. But Beth was here, and she was safe, and that was all that mattered.

Daryl quickly ducked back in the cabin to grab his crossbow before heading back out to explore the area around the cabin. He didn't want to go too far in case Beth woke up, but he wanted to get a grasp on where they were. He squinted off into the woods and quickly spotted the trail he had left several hours before as he walked heavy-footed toward the cabin. That told him that the road was a few miles north of the cabin, since he hadn't changed direction while carrying Beth through the woods. Daryl wandered around the back of the cabin, and his ears picked up the faint sound of a stream somewhere nearby. He wished he knew what stream it was, but without a map, he had no idea.

The road the car had traveled on was heading toward Atlanta, so he knew they were probably closer to the city than they had been at the funeral home, but he wasn't sure how close. Clearly the small cabin was quite remote, as it didn't even have much of a real road leading to it, just a faint outline of a makeshift dirt road that was now quite overgrown. There didn't appear to be any walkers nearby, and he hadn't encountered any once he had started carrying Beth. That was a good sign.

Daryl made his way back inside and began raiding the kitchen cabinets for food. He found several cans of beans and vegetables, and he decided that once Beth woke up and he was sure she was able to move around on her own, he would go out and hunt something for them to eat. For now, one of the cans would have to do. He tried the tap on the kitchen sink and was pleased to see clean water emerge from it. The cabin must have had a well on the property. He cupped his mouth to the faucet and took several deep gulps of the water before switching it back off. He began searching for a pot of some kind when he heard a gasping breath from the bedroom.

Daryl hurried to the open door of the bedroom and saw Beth attempting to sit up on the bed, her blue eyes wide and anxiously darting around the room. When her eyes landed on him, her face crumbled, and tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"Daryl?" she said, her voice cracking from lack of use.

He said nothing, but crossed the room in three strides and brought her into a tight embrace. Beth yelped from the pressure on her injured ribs, but she quickly wrapped her arms around his middle and held him in place as he attempted to jerk away. He slowly placed his arms back around her and held her against his chest. Her tears were wetting the front his shirt, but as he held her, her crying stopped.

"You found me," Beth mumbled into his shirt.

"Course I did," Daryl replied, his voice rough. Beth pulled away and he quickly released her from his grasp, awkwardly taking a step back from her. "Ran after that car and didn't stop till I found you."

Beth tentatively raised a hand to her forehead and felt the rough stitches there.

"You stitched me up?"

Daryl nodded. "My first time tryin' it, so it ain't pretty, but it had to be done."

"Thank you."

Daryl moved to sit next to her on the bed, his hands awkwardly in his lap as he looked at her with concern. "What happened? When I found you the car was completely totaled . . ."

Beth took a shuddering breath, looking as though she was about to cry again, but she swallowed hard and blinked the tears away.

"I ran up to the road like you said, but before I could find you, this car just came out of nowhere. A guy jumped out and grabbed me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He threw me down and kicked me in the stomach, and then he hit me in the head with the butt of a gun." She reached up and gingerly felt the back of her head, wincing when she felt the large lump there. "I must've passed out, and when I woke up, I was layin' in the backseat of the car with my hands tied in front of me. I dunno how long I was out, but the two guys up front didn't notice I was awake. I dunno who they were or where they were takin' me, but it couldn't have been good. I had to do something."

Beth lifted her gaze from her lap and saw the look of icy anger on Daryl's face. She swallowed again and continued.

"I realized I still had my knife on my belt, and I managed to get it free without them noticing. I waited till I felt us going around a turn and I sat up and buried the knife in the driver's throat. The last thing I remember is the car crashin' into a tree."

A few tears managed to escape her eyes, and she wiped them away angrily. "I knew the chances of me survivin' the crash were slim, but it was either that or end up wherever they were takin' me, and I knew I didn't want to end up there. I did what I had to do."

Daryl's expression was pained, and he wanted to reach out to her again, but he restrained himself.

"You did the right thing," he said gruffly. "Not lettin' them take you. You're strong, Beth."

She nodded, wiping her face again. "Did you see them? The men who took me? Did the other one survive?"

Daryl shook his head. "They probably saved you. Couple of biters were feastin' on them without any idea that you were still in the car."

Beth shuddered at the thought and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt a sick feeling of satisfaction that her kidnappers had ended in such a way, and she felt ashamed of such a thought almost immediately after. She sighed and looked around the bedroom in an attempt to focus on something else.

"Where are we?"

Daryl shrugged. "Some hunting cabin in the woods. Not sure exactly where. The road's a few miles north of here."

"You . . . you carried me that far?"

Daryl nodded and looked down at his hands. "Had to get you somewhere safe."

"Thank you," Beth said. "If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be alive right now."

"Stop," Daryl said quietly. The thought of Beth dying had crossed his mind a few times while he had chased after the car, and it pained him too much to think about. Beth gave him a smile that came out as more of a grimace.

"I'll make us somethin' to eat," he said. "There's a couple of cans of stuff in the kitchen. Thinkin' I'll go out huntin' later to get us somethin' better."

Beth nodded and made an attempt to climb off the bed, but she inhaled sharply when pain shot through her side.

"Can you help me stand?" she asked. Daryl nodded and stood from where he was seated on the bed. He delicately grasped one of her arms and put his other hand on her back, gently helping her to her feet. He removed his hands once she was standing, but stayed next to her in case she fell. Beth slowly peeled her shirt up and examined the dark bruises around her ribs.

"D'you think you broke any?" Daryl asked.

Beth took a deep breath and winced, but shook her head. "No. It doesn't feel that bad. But it certainly doesn't feel good, either."

She took a tentative step forward, limping on her still-injured ankle. Daryl quickly wrapped an arm around her to help support her weight.

"Place has got runnin' water," he said. "Gotta have a well on the property or somethin'. If you wanna clean up, bathroom's to the left."

"That sounds amazin," Beth sighed. Daryl helped her into the bathroom, and she hopped over to the sink and gave a little squeal of delight when water came out of the tap.

"I'm gonna make us somethin' to eat," Daryl muttered.

Beth nodded and glanced at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. She splashed the cold water from the sink on her face, enjoying how refreshing it felt. She glanced back at the shower behind her and decided to try the taps there, too.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as water came out of the showerhead. It was terrible water pressure and cold, but it was a running shower nonetheless. Beth closed the bathroom door behind her and began to peel the filthy clothes from her body. She noticed her skin was littered with bruises, some more severe than others, but aside from her ankle, ribs, and forehead, she seemed to be mostly okay. She limped to the shower and carefully climbed inside, gasping as the freezing water hit her skin. She grabbed the bar of soap that was already in there and began washing away days' worth of dirt, sweat, and grime. She noticed with another leap of excitement that there was a bottle of generic men's shampoo in the shower as well. She couldn't remember the last time she had washed her hair.

After she was clean (and sufficiently freezing), she climbed out of the shower, only to realize that there was no towel hanging on the towel rack next to the shower.

"Shit," she muttered, pulling open the cabinet doors beneath the sink to find no towels there, either. She sighed and opened the bathroom door a crack.

"Uh, Daryl?" she called. He was in the hallway in an instant, meeting her eyes through the crack in the door. "Are there towels around here anywhere?"

Daryl turned and opened the door to the linen closet across from the bathroom. He grabbed one of the folded towels and handed it to her through the door, his eyes trained purposefully on the floor so as not to accidentally get a peek at her.

"Thanks," she murmured, closing the door again and toweling off. She wished she had clean clothes to put on, but until she could find new ones or wash the ones she had, her current clothes would have to do. She dressed and hobbled out into the kitchen to find Daryl stirring a pot of beans over a wood stove.

"This place is nice," she commented as she looked around the room. Daryl scoffed and she shrugged. "Nicer than a lot of places, I mean."

Daryl watched her as she limped into the living room and gingerly sat on one of the couches. With the state of her ankle and ribs, she wouldn't be fit to travel for several days. He found two bowls in a cabinet and poured the beans into them, grabbing two forks as well and going out to join Beth in the living room. He sat down on the other couch and set the bowl in front of her on the coffee table. They began eating in silence, and Daryl couldn't help noticing the far off look in Beth's eyes.

"Thinkin' we should stay here at least a few days, till you're healed up," he muttered.

Beth nodded and looked up from her food, her expression a little hesitant. "What happens after I'm healed? Where will we go?"

Daryl shrugged. "Where do you want to go?"

Beth sighed, thinking about Maggie and Glenn and the other members of their group, but realistically she knew they were probably far away by now. She wanted to remain optimistic that they would find the other members of their group, but at the same time, she was so damn tired and just wanted to stay in one place for a while. She tentatively glanced at Daryl, who was watching her and waiting for her response.

"Maybe . . . I dunno, maybe we could stick around here for a while," she said softly.

"Whatever you want," Daryl replied with a nod.

"I want to find Maggie, and the others," Beth said, her voice wavering slightly. "But it's startin' to seem so unlikely that we will. And I'm so tired, Daryl. We've been runnin' from place to place for a while and I just want a place to call home. Even if it's only for a few weeks."

Daryl nodded in understanding. He looked around the cabin and gave a shrug. "Home sweet home then."

Beth smiled. Even if it was only temporary, having a place to call home made everything seem better. She just hoped they could make it last.


	3. Chapter 3

**I like this chapter. It was fun to write. Enjoy and please review! :)**

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><p>After they finished eating, Daryl grabbed his crossbow and told Beth he was going out hunting. The thought of being alone so soon after being kidnapped made Beth feel anxious, but she knew it would be impractical to ask him to stay. The cabin didn't have much food on hand, and they needed whatever meat Daryl would be able to bring back.<p>

"Try not to walk around on your ankle too much," he instructed her. She scoffed at him.

"I'm not gonna sit here and be useless while you're gone. I'm gonna go through all the stuff in this place and figure out what we can use. We also need some kind of perimeter alarm, so I'll see if there's anything I can use to make one."

Daryl narrowed his eyes a bit, but nodded. "I won't go far."

Beth gave him a small grateful smile. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just cleared his throat awkwardly and gave her a stiff head nod before stalking out the front door. She watched the closed door for several long moments before heaving a sigh and gingerly pulling herself to her feet. Her ribs ached and she wasn't able to put much weight on her ankle, but as she had told Daryl, she needed to make herself useful. She glanced around and hobbled toward the kitchen to start there.

The kitchen was small and only contained a refrigerator, sink, small wood stove, and a small area of counter space. She began searching through the kitchen cabinets and found a few pots and pans and other utensils, some canned food, and expired condiments. Beth decided that they should take one of the smaller cooking pots when they left this place. It would enable them to boil water to make it safe for drinking, and would allow them to more easily heat canned foods over a fire.

Beth rifled through the utensil drawer and found a large Swiss army knife. She grinned as she flipped it open, noting that the larger blade was about three inches long and quite sharp. It also had a smaller blade, a corkscrew, a can opener, a file, some tiny scissors, and even a small magnifying glass.

"Score," she murmured to herself, closing the contraption and slipping it into her pocket. She continued to rummage around and gave a pleased hum when she found a bottle of cheap whiskey shoved in the back of one of the cabinets. It was still about 2/3 full. Beth smiled to herself as she remembered the night she and Daryl got drunk off moonshine. It was the first time he had actually opened up to her and told her anything about his past and his life before the turn. To some people, it might not seem like a big deal, but for Daryl, Beth knew it was. She had managed to tear down at least some of the walls he had been holding in place for so long, and she liked seeing the man he was behind those walls.

Still smiling fondly at the memory, Beth limped over to the linen closet and began going through it. There were towels, sheets, blankets, and a few spare toiletry items, including new toothbrushes and toothpaste, bars of soap, deodorant, and a bar of laundry soap. They were basic and generic, but to Beth, they seemed like gold.

As she moved on throughout the house, she found some rope, men's clothes that looked as though they had belonged to a heavyset man, and even an old hunting rifle in the bedroom closet. Beth piled the loot on the coffee table so she could show Daryl when he returned from hunting. She decided to wash her clothes in the tub with the bar of laundry soap. Her body was clean from the shower, and she couldn't wait for her clothes to be clean, too. She hummed a song to herself as she filled the tub with water and peeled off her filthy clothing. Despite the horrors of the night before, today was turning out to be a good day.

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><p>Daryl crept through the woods, careful not to make a sound as he approached a rabbit. He took aim and swiftly sent a bolt through it, successfully procuring dinner for him and Beth. It hadn't taken him long to find the rabbit, which led him to believe that there weren't as many walkers in this area as in others. The ghouls tended to scare off most prey when they were around.<p>

Even though he had already secured their meal, Daryl decided to wander through the woods for a bit longer to get a better grasp on what was around the cabin. He headed toward the stream he had heard earlier and reached it after a short while. It was just a short walk from the cabin. Daryl sat down on a rock next to the water and began skinning and gutting his kill.

His thoughts wandered to Beth, and he was flooded with relief all over again. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost her. If it hadn't been for her bravery and determination, he probably would have lost her. He didn't want to think about what might have happened to her if she had been taken to wherever those men had been going. Anyone who was out kidnapping pretty young girls couldn't have pure intentions. He felt himself growing angry at the thought and forced himself to brush the thoughts away. It didn't matter what _could _have happened. She was here, and she was safe, and he would keep her that way.

He thought about all the things he had wanted to say to her when he had been running after the car, and how he suddenly felt that he didn't have the guts to do so. He saw her in his mind's eye smiling at him before he had left the cabin. He should have said something to her then to make her realize how much almost losing her had wrecked him. He should have told her how glad he was that she was here, and that he would have run to the end of the earth to save her. He should have admitted that, to him, she represented everything that was good in the world, and he that he had grown to love being around her. But now, with her here only a few hundred feet away, admitting these things to her seemed impossible. Daryl had never been good at expressing himself or his feelings, and the thought of pouring his heart out to Beth suddenly seemed terrifying. He had never let anyone in the way he had let her in, and the idea of opening himself up to her further filled him with anxiety.

He sighed and shook his head at himself. He would make sure she knew how glad he was that she was safe, and maybe someday he could work up to telling her how much she had affected him. She was on her way to making him into a better person, but his hesitance to get close to people was a hard habit to break. After a lifetime of conditioning and experiences to make him push people away, trusting someone the way he was starting to trust Beth was an entirely new thing for him.

Daryl pushed himself off the rock he was seated on and rinsed the blood from his hands in the stream. He grabbed the prepared rabbit and made his way back to the cabin. He wondered if Beth had found anything useful while he was gone. He hadn't been gone long at all, maybe an hour at most, but the cabin wasn't very big, so it couldn't have taken long to search. He strode up the steps of the screened in porch and opened the door to a sight he wasn't prepared for.

There was Beth, standing in the living room in nothing but her bra and underwear. She stared at the open door like a deer in headlights, and Daryl's eyes involuntarily traveled down her body. Beth turned beet red and hastily grabbed a flannel shirt that was on the coffee table, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to cover herself with it. Daryl coughed and reddened as he realized he'd been staring.

"Shit, uh, sorry," he muttered, quickly turning around and fleeing from the doorway back out onto the porch. He pinched his nose between his eyes and exhaled slowly. Daryl certainly hadn't expected Beth to be nearly naked in the living room, and now the image was burned into his mind. She was wearing a simple light pink bra and matching underwear, and Daryl was faced with the sudden realization that her slender body had enticed an entirely inappropriate attraction in him.

_No, no, no, fuck no, _he thought to himself. _She's just a kid. _How old was she now anyway? Eighteen? Nineteen? Way too young for a man of his age to be thinking of her like that. He almost groaned aloud and hated himself for allowing himself to look at her in that way. It was so very wrong. He was her protector and her companion, and he felt like a dirty old man for being unable to stop himself from looking.

"Uh, hey," Beth's soft voice suddenly pulled him from his thoughts. He spun around to see her standing in the doorway, now wearing a very oversized flannel shirt that looked as though it were actually a large dress swallowing her small frame.

"The hell were you doin' walkin' around in your underwear?" Daryl snapped, his tone sharper than he intended. She blushed red again and looked away.

"I found a bar of laundry soap and I washed my clothes in the tub, but I realized I hadn't brought any others into the bathroom with me. I didn't expect you back so soon, so I went out to grab one of the shirts I found earlier. You walked in at just the wrong time."

Daryl nodded, unable to meet her eyes. "Sorry," he apologized again.

"It's okay," Beth said quietly, still clearly very embarrassed. "Looks like you caught something?"

"Rabbit," Daryl grunted in response.

"That's good. I found some good stuff in the house. Come see?"

Daryl nodded and followed her back inside the house. He kept his eyes down and looked away from her bare legs as she limped over to the living room. The oversized flannel she was wearing covered her legs decently enough, but after what he'd seen moments before, Daryl was afraid that the sight of her exposed pale skin would give him flashbacks of her in her underwear. He set the rabbit down on the kitchen counter and cleared his throat awkwardly as she sat on one of the couches. He took a few steps toward her to see her pile of loot, but didn't sit down next to her.

"Found this rifle in the bedroom closet, some rope, toiletries, clothes that are enormous on me and would probably still be big on you, and this. My favorite find." She held up the Swiss army knife.

"Lemme see that," Daryl muttered, trying to snatch it from her. She held it out of his reach.

"Okay, but I call dibs on it. I want it," she said with a playful smile.

Daryl arched his eyebrows at her and shrugged. "Okay, it's yours. Can I see _your _knife?"

Beth grinned and tossed it to him. Daryl flipped open the blade and whistled appreciatively as he examined the knife's features.

"Good find," he said with a nod.

"I thought so, too. I didn't find any empty cans or anything to make a perimeter alarm with though. We've got the rope, but nothing to tie to it."

"Didn't see any walkers in the woods," Daryl said. "Haven't seen any since I was up on the road yesterday. We'll probably be fine just covering up the windows and proppin' a chair under the door tonight. Tomorrow I'll go out and look for some stuff on the road we can use."

Beth nodded and settled back on the couch a little.

"You're really okay with just stayin' here for a bit?" she asked.

"Sure," Daryl replied with a shrug.

"And you're okay with not going out and lookin' for the others for a while?"

"I just got you back, girl. One step at a time."

Beth grinned at him, and Daryl felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as well.

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><p>They were both full and content. They had cooked the rabbit over the fire in the fireplace, and now dark had fallen outside. Daryl had taken apart the old rifle Beth had found and was almost done cleaning it, and Beth was writing in her journal by the light of the fire. She finished what she was writing and set the journal on the coffee table.<p>

"I found a bottle of whiskey in one of the kitchen cabinets," Beth said.

Daryl glanced up to find her looking at him with a somewhat mischievous expression on her face.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I think we should drink some."

Daryl shook his head and gave her a half smile. "Not till you're healed."

Beth scoffed at him. "Yes, Mr. Dixon."

"Besides," Daryl smirked at her, "we wanna stay here for a bit. If I give you booze, you might burn the place down."

Beth laughed. It felt good to laugh. She suddenly realized that it was the first time she had laughed since they had gotten here. Since she had woken up to discover that Daryl had rescued her. She smiled at him and noticed him studying her intensely, as if he wanted to say something, but he remained silent. He suddenly stood from where he was seated on the floor.

"I'll take first watch," he muttered. "You get some sleep. I'll wake you in a couple hours."

Beth nodded and stood from the couch as Daryl went out the front door to keep watch on the porch. She limped into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. She could hear the sound of crickets and cicadas singing outside, and thankfully no snarls or moans from walkers interrupted the peaceful sound of the night. But as soon as Beth settled down and closed her eyes, the tranquility of the night was ruined by flashbacks of the night before. She saw the indifferent face of the man who had first grabbed her and thrown her to the ground, and she covered her bruised ribs with her hands as she remembered his brutal kicks to her side. Flashes of burying her knife in the driver's neck ran through her head, and she remembered the way the tires squealed as the car swerved. Visions of the car careening toward the large tree repeated in her mind. She began to feel anxious and her chest felt tight. She tried to think of positive things, but her mind kept bringing her back.

After trying unsuccessfully to banish the thoughts from her head for several minutes, Beth sat up. She rubbed her eyes and told herself to stop worrying about what had happened. She had made it. Daryl had come for her. Daryl was here now, and he would keep her safe.

She took a deep breath and stood from the bed. She limped out of the bedroom and to the front door. When she opened it and came out onto the porch, she found Daryl sitting on the porch steps. He turned to look at her in confusion.

"Can't sleep," Beth said quietly. "I can't stop thinking about what happened. Last night, I mean. It won't stop playing in my head."

Daryl frowned and said nothing. He didn't know what to say. He knew what it was like to be haunted by things, and it usually wasn't something that could be easily dismissed.

Beth took a tentative step forward. "Could you . . . could you lay with me a while? Just till I fall asleep?"

Her voice was so quiet that Daryl almost didn't hear her. He didn't reply, but stood from where he was seated and made his way over to her. She gave him a grateful smile, turning and shuffling back inside and toward the bedroom. She laid back down on the bed and scooted to the far side. Daryl lay down next to her. He folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling, listening to the night around them. Beth carefully moved closer to him and tentatively laid her head on his chest. Daryl instantly tensed.

"Is this okay?" Beth asked softly.

Daryl forced himself to relax and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Yeah."

Beth scooted a little closer to him and Daryl slowly moved one of his arms from behind his head to circle around her back. His touch was light and unsure, but it was more than enough for Beth. Daryl's scent of sweat and woods was comforting to her, and the steady rise and fall of his breathing was a constant reminder that he was there and he was real.

The haunting memories of the night before faded away, and Beth drifted off to sleep in the safety of Daryl's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter four! It may be a day or two before I can post chapter five. Work has gotten insane and I'm working lots of overtime to meet extremely tight deadlines. Bear with me and please review! :)**

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><p>"Hold it higher," Daryl instructed. Beth rose the crossbow, and Daryl shook his head. "Not that high." He stepped close to her and stood behind her, his arms reaching around her and gently lowering the bow to the correct height. Beth tried to ignore the jolt in her stomach that she felt as he touched her skin and squinted at the target ahead on the tree before firing. The bolt sailed through the air and hit its mark. She let out a victorious whoop and turned around to grin at Daryl.<p>

"Told you I could hit it!"

"You wouldn't have with the way you were holding it without my help," Daryl smirked at her. Beth rolled her eyes and went to collect the arrow from the tree.

The pair of them had been at the hunting cabin for five days now, and Beth's ankle was bothering her much less. She had been going stir crazy sitting in the cabin recovering, and now that she could walk without a pronounced limp, she had demanded that Daryl take her out to practice more with the crossbow. She was still eager to learn more about tracking, but Daryl didn't want them to wander too far from the cabin until she was fully healed. Her ribs were still pretty battered, and despite the improvements in her ankle, he knew that if they came across trouble, she wouldn't be able to run very well. He had agreed to teach her more about using the crossbow, however, and now they were practicing with it outside the cabin.

"Let's make a game of it," Beth suggested as she returned with the arrow. She handed it to Daryl, and he loaded the bow for her.

"A game? Like how?"

"Like every time I hit the target, you have to tell me something about your life before the turn."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't like the sound of this game."

"Oh, come on," Beth said with an eye roll. "It doesn't have to be anything serious or important. You could tell me what your favorite food was, or what your first car was, or whatever."

"Why do you care? Why do you wanna know 'bout my life before?"

Beth shrugged. "Cause you pretty much never talk about it. You're a damn mystery, and I want to know more about you."

Daryl didn't look convinced, and Beth rolled her eyes again.

"You said it yourself; I wouldn't have hit the target without your help. Who knows if I'll be able to hit it at all?"

"Good point," Daryl replied with a smirk. "So what happens if you don't hit the target?"

"I'll tell you something about me."

Daryl almost made a comment about how much she already talked about her life before the turn, but decided against it. He nodded.

"Okay then. Take your first shot."

Beth carefully raised the bow and aimed it. Daryl could already tell she was aiming too low, but he said nothing, standing back with his arms crossed over his chest. Beth let the bolt fly and, as Daryl had suspected, it hit the tree a good 6 inches below the target.

"At least I hit the tree," Beth shrugged. She went and retrieved the bolt and handed it to Daryl, who was eying her expectantly.

"Oh, right. Umm, let's see. Before the turn, I wanted to go to college and major in elementary education," she stated.

"You like kids?" Daryl asked as he loaded the bow again for her, but he realized it was a stupid question since she had been Judith's primary caretaker at the prison.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Always wanted a few of them later in life. Obviously that's changed now. This world ain't a place for children."

Daryl nodded gravely, trying not to think of Judith's unknown fate as he handed the loaded bow back to Beth. She took careful aim again and released the bolt, and once again, it hit too low, but only by about three inches this time. Beth sighed heavily and went to retrieve it.

"I never once skipped class in high school," she stated as Daryl loaded the bow. "At least, not until things started going bad right before the turn."

"Really?" Daryl asked incredulously. "I think I skipped more than I went. Didn't graduate, neither."

"Well neither did I," Beth replied. "Hey, look at that. You're tellin' me stuff without me even hitting the target."

Daryl rolled his eyes at her and handed the bow back to her again. Something about Beth made her easy to talk to, which kind of scared him. Beth may have said she wanted to know more about him, but Daryl was sure that if she knew about all the skeletons in his closet, she would regret wanting to know.

Beth aimed the crossbow and let the arrow fly, and this time, it struck the target. She squealed in excitement and ran to grab it.

"Now you have to tell me something!" she said triumphantly, handing the arrow to him and trying to ignore the way his biceps flexed when he loaded the bow.

Daryl hummed in thought, wondering what he could tell her that wasn't serious or depressing. He handed the bow to her.

"My usual drink order at a bar would be a Jameson on the rocks and a Hamm's beer back."

Beth looked at him blankly. "I don't even know what that means."

Daryl chuckled, forgetting how young she actually was. "Jameson is an Irish whiskey. Hamm's is a shitty cheap beer."

"We still have a bottle of whiskey that remains untouched in the cabin," she reminded him with a grin.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're tryin' to get me drunk," Daryl grumbled.

"Maybe I am." Beth smirked at him with a devious look in her eye, and Daryl couldn't help finding her mischievous expression sexy. He shook his head. _No, not sexy. She's still practically a kid_, he scolded himself_. _

"I'm surprised you'd want to be around me when I'm drunk after the way I was last time," Daryl said.

"I handled you just fine then, and I think I could handle you just fine now," Beth replied as she aimed the crossbow.

Her words were innocent, but Daryl immediately thought of Beth "handling" him in other ways. He wanted to slap himself for thinking such thoughts. Why couldn't his mind stay pure? Ever since he had accidentally walked in on Beth in her underwear a few days prior, he found it hard to ignore his attraction to her. It was completely inappropriate, but Daryl couldn't help it. Despite her young age, Beth was beautiful. Daryl now suddenly found her innocence alluring, and the desire made him feel like a perverted old man. He had tried to convince himself that his attraction was solely because he hadn't been with a woman in years, and walking in on Beth nearly naked had been his only glimpse of a real woman's body since the turn. But that was the problem—Daryl had been thinking of Beth as a girl, not a woman, until the sight of her body proved otherwise. And he knew that his attraction wasn't purely physical. Beth made him feel like a different person, and the goodness in her was almost intoxicating. As much as he tried to ignore his newfound feelings, the way his heart sped up when she would lay her head on his chest each night before going to sleep couldn't be ignored. One thing was for sure, though. Daryl was terrified of his changing feelings for Beth.

A delighted yelp brought Daryl out of his thoughts. Beth had hit the target again, and she was grinning ear to ear when she returned the arrow to him. She looked at him expectantly and Daryl sighed.

"Okay, uh . . . I shot my first buck when I was six years old."

"Impressive," she said. "Your dad must have started teaching you when you were really young."

Daryl nodded once, not wanting to delve into it. Beth looked like she was about to ask more about it, but he was saved from the query by the sudden appearance of a walker shambling toward them a few feet away. Daryl started to load the crossbow, but Beth had already flipped open her new Swiss army knife and was marching toward the ghoul with the blade in hand. Before Daryl could even aim his crossbow, she put the biter down with a swift thrust of her blade. She turned to smile triumphantly at him, but another walker appeared to her left, which Daryl quickly put down with the arrow he had loaded for the first. He scanned the woods for signs of other biters, and but thankfully the woods seemed quiet once again.

"First walkers I've seen out here," Daryl said as Beth wiped her blade clean on the dead walker's shirt. She flipped the blade closed and slipped it back into her pocket.

"They're bound to wander this way eventually," Beth shrugged. "Still, it was nice to not see a walker for a few days."

"We need a better perimeter alarm," Daryl noted, shouldering his crossbow and going to retrieve the arrow he had used to down the second walker. They had managed to rig up a small perimeter alarm in front of the porch using stuff Daryl had scavenged from the road, but it was nowhere near big enough to circle the entire cabin.

"Where are we gonna find the stuff to make one?" Beth asked. "Maybe we should try to find a town nearby?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, but not till you're in better shape." He glanced around the woods, looking thoughtful. He turned his gaze back to Beth, who was watching him.

"How long do you really wanna stay here?" he asked her.

If Beth was honest, she wanted to stay at the cabin for as long as possible. She wanted to find their group as much as she always had, but she had to admit that she had enjoyed the past few days with him in the cabin, not having to worry about finding a place to sleep at night or about the dangers of being on the road. It had been just her and Daryl for almost a month now since the prison fell, and even though finding their friends and family were still on her agenda, she selfishly admitted that she wanted to keep Daryl to herself for now. She knew that once they were reunited with the group, Daryl would probably go back to the way he was before they lost the prison, and he wouldn't spend more time around her than he had to. Beth wasn't ready to let him go just yet.

She realized Daryl was still waiting for her reply, and she shifted awkwardly and gave a half shrug.

"At least a couple weeks," she managed to say. "But I wouldn't mind staying longer. If you can put up with my company for longer, that is," she tried to joke, but it came out sounding forced, and she was afraid her voice had revealed her anxiety about the issue. But Daryl just nodded.

"We should think about fortifying the cabin a little. Maybe we can sharpen some tree branches into points to jam into the ground kind of like we had outside the prison gates. If walkers are trying to get to the cabin, it'd skewer some of 'em so we can deal with 'em easier."

"Good idea," Beth agreed. "D'you wanna start on that today?"

Daryl looked up and observed the position of the sun in the sky. He guessed it was early afternoon.

"Yeah. Let's gather up a bunch of wood, and you can start sharpening some of it while I go hunt us down some dinner in a bit."

Beth nodded and followed Daryl into the trees to search for suitable wood for their task. She couldn't stop her eyes from wandering to him as they worked, and she bit her lip as she watched his muscles flex as he lifted the heavy loads of sticks and branches to haul back over to the cabin. She shook her head at herself and wondered when she had become so attracted to him. They had been growing closer as time went on, that was for sure, but it was growing into something more. It was more than just a feeling of safety around him, because that had always been there. Maybe it was because before, they had always been running from place to place, focused on survival, and here at the cabin, they were finally able to relax a little and think about things other than how they were going to survive the night. Regardless of how it came about, however, Beth was starting to see Daryl in a different light.

Each night they had been at the cabin, Daryl had willingly let her fall asleep on his chest before he took first watch. It was becoming routine. At first, she had sensed that he had been uncomfortable, but he was beginning to tense up less when she laid close to him. She liked the feeling of his arm protectively wrapped around her, and she always fell asleep within minutes when she was next to him. It was becoming clear to her that she wanted more from Daryl than just his friendship. She hoped that he was starting to feel the same way, and she caught the way he looked at her at times, but she wondered if she was just seeing what she wanted to see. Daryl was a grown man, and he probably thought of her as just a girl, a kid, too young to have anything beyond friendship with. As she watched him drag two particularly large fallen tree branches toward the cabin, his muscles tense and his skin shining with sweat, she felt a heat in the pit of her stomach that was impossible to ignore. She decided that she needed to make Daryl realize that she wasn't just a kid and that she was a capable young woman. Maybe if he was able to see her as a woman, he would be more open to the idea of pushing the current boundaries of their relationship.

"I ain't out here just for your viewin' pleasure, Greene," Daryl suddenly snapped at her, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Sorry," she said quickly, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment, and she hurried off to find some lighter branches she could haul back to the cabin. She tried not to look at him as they worked, but it was difficult. When Daryl announced that he was going out to hunt, Beth was almost relieved.

Daryl Dixon was going to be the death of her.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is extra long because I was unable to update the past two days, and I may not be able to update for another few days because of the ongoing "crisis" at work. Please review; your reviews make me happy! :)**

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><p>Beth stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel to dry off. She glanced at Daryl's towel hanging on the rack next to where hers had been and rolled her eyes, knowing that in the full week they had been at the cabin, he had only showered once. Daryl's rough nature made showering a low priority for him, and while Beth would have once found such a habit unappealing, she realized that Daryl actually looked quite good covered in dirt and grime. Who would have thought that she would find Daryl's lack of cleanliness sexy?<p>

Beth looked at her reflection in the mirror and examined the stitches that were still present on the corner of her forehead. She realized that they had been in for seven days, which was two days longer than when they should have been removed. Her father had always removed facial stitches after four or five days. She sighed sadly at the memory of him and decided she would attempt to remove the stitches today.

She dressed in her only set of clothes that were quickly becoming filthy again and took a moment to tie her wet hair up in a ponytail. She pulled out the Swiss army knife that was in one of her pants pockets as always and flipped open the small pair of scissors. Leaning close to the mirror, she brought the tip of one of the blades to her wound and tried to delicately cut one of the stitches free. She winced as the thread pulled at her still-sensitive skin, and she sighed and lowered the scissors. She wanted Daryl's help with this task.

Beth could hear Daryl outside digging holes for their sharpened wood posts. So far, they had put posts in the ground on three sides of the cabin, and they were close to finishing their line of defense on the fourth side today. The sharpened points circled the cabin leaning outward with only about 6 inches between each post, save for a small opening they had made for themselves on one side of the cabin. Any ghouls that managed to slip through the opening would then trip the small perimeter alarm that was still hanging by the front door. They had been able to test the spikes once on two walkers that had wandered their way, but the dead had been too stupid to go for the opening in the spikes and ended up impaling themselves on the spikes in front of the cabin. It had been easy to take care of them while they were stuck on the spikes. Although the spikes were not nearly as good of a defense as the prison's high fences had been, they were enough to make the pair of them feel relatively safe for the time being.

Beth wandered outside and around the side of the cabin and watched Daryl digging for a few moments before approaching him. He looked up at her and stood from where he was digging, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"Looks like it's almost done," she observed. Daryl nodded.

"Just a couple more holes to dig."

Daryl turned the metal bucket he was using as a shovel upside down and sat down on it, taking a swig of water from the bottle he had with him outside. He looked up at the sun in the sky and squinted, trying to decipher the time.

"Looks to be about late morning," he said. "You still up for heading up toward the road today?"

"Yeah," Beth agreed. They intended to follow the road for a ways to see if they could find a nearby town, or at least get a better idea of where they were. Now that Beth's injuries were in much better shape, she couldn't wait to get out of the cabin for a bit.

"Could you help me take my stitches out before we go?" Beth asked. "I tried, but it hurt and I sorta chickened out."

Daryl gave her half a smirk and nodded. He stood from his makeshift seat on the bucket and nodded toward the house. Beth made her way back inside with Daryl following. She sat on one of the living room couches and waited while Daryl washed his hands in the kitchen sink. He made his way over to the small end table where he had found the sewing kit and grabbed the small pair of sewing scissors. Beth scooted to the edge of the couch and Daryl crouched in front of her.

"We probably should have taken these out a few days ago," Beth said as he gently tilted her head up toward the light, examining the stitches. "Daddy told me that you should take facial stitches out after five days."

Daryl hummed in agreement and gently brushed his thumb over the stitches. Beth suddenly realized how close his face was to hers and tried to ignore her rapidly increasing heartbeat. Daryl raised the sewing scissors to the stitches and began carefully snipping them free. The tugging on the wound hurt a bit, but Beth was too focused on the feeling of Daryl's touch on her face and how blue his eyes looked up close that she didn't even notice the pain. He set the scissors down on the coffee table and began gently pulling each thread free from the freshly healed wound. Before long, he was finished, and Beth felt a small pang of disappointment when he pulled away and stood.

"Sorry I didn't do a better job stitchin' it up," he muttered. "It's a scar now."

Beth blinked and snapped back to reality.

"It's okay," she said quickly. "I'll take a scar over ending up where those men were takin' me any day."

Daryl's expression noticeably darkened at the mention of Beth's kidnappers, and she quickly changed the subject.

"You ready to head out toward the road?"

Daryl nodded. "Got everythin' packed?"

"Yep," Beth said, standing from the couch and going to retrieve her backpack by the door. She had packed two cans of food, some water, matches, and the basic first aid kit from the bathroom just in case they ran into trouble on the road and couldn't get back that day. Beth slipped the backpack over her shoulders and Daryl grabbed his crossbow before they both headed out the door.

"Wish we could lock the door," Daryl muttered as they slipped through the gap in the spikes and began walking through the woods toward the road.

"Are you wanting to lock our stuff in or lock other people out?" Beth asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Both."

Beth was silent for a few moments, trying to make her steps as quiet as Daryl's as they walked through the woods. She couldn't help remembering that night at the funeral home, when Daryl had revealed that she had been the one to make him believe in good people. She remembered his intense gaze as he had stared at her, and she almost shivered at the memory.

"What happened to makin' it work? With other people, if they were to show up, I mean?" she asked tentatively.

"What're you talkin' about?"

"That night at the funeral home. You said that if the people who had been staying there came back, maybe we could make it work."

"That was different."

"How? If people showed up at the cabin, isn't that kinda the same thing?"

Daryl turned to look at her, his expression unreadable.

"I guess."

Beth could hear the doubt in his voice, and it almost pained her to hear it.

"Just because some bad people tried to take me doesn't mean that all people are bad, Daryl," she said softly. "I still believe that, and I hope you do, too."

Daryl said nothing, just stared at the ground as they walked with his jaw clenched tight. Beth wanted to walk closer to him, maybe try to remind him that there were still good people around, but she didn't. She let out a short sigh and walked next to him in silence, the air tense around them.

After walking in silence for a while, they reached the road. Beth's eyes traveled down the pavement and landed on the wrecked car that had taken her. Her eyes widened and she lifted a hand to her mouth in astonishment. The front end of the car was completely collapsed into the tree, and broken glass littered the ground. She was amazed that she had survived such a crash with only minor injuries. Tears pricked her eyes, but she couldn't tell if it was because the image was upsetting or if she was just so thankful to be alive. She looked to Daryl, who was watching her with concern reflected in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but he extended his hand to her. She took it and laced her fingers with his, the gesture more comforting than any words would have been. Daryl gave her hand a soft squeeze and began gently leading her away in the opposite direction of the wreck. Beth blinked the tears away and turned away from the car, putting the image behind her.

The pair of them walked hand in hand in comfortable silence for some time. Eventually, Daryl spotted a few empty cans of food on the side of the road, and he dropped Beth's hand to pick them up.

"For the perimeter alarm," he said, motioning for her to turn around so he could put them in her backpack. She hoped he would take her hand again as they resumed walking, but to her disappointment, he didn't. They continued walking for about half an hour until they came across an old, beaten up pickup truck on the side of the road. Daryl stopped as they approached it.

"Doesn't look like it's been sittin' here too long," he observed. "Maybe the battery is still good."

Beth's grew hopeful. A working vehicle would be extremely useful. Most of the cars they had passed on the side of the road had been there for so long that they were in no shape to drive, and even if they were, it was likely that their batteries had been dead for too long to use. Daryl peeked inside the truck and opened the driver's side door. He didn't find any keys and instead went to work on hotwiring the car. Beth leaned against the side of the truck keeping watch as he worked. They hadn't encountered any walkers on the road yet, but Beth was still on alert, just in case.

A few minutes later, the truck roared to life. Daryl gave Beth a grin, and she happily made her way around the truck the passenger side. The pair hopped in and began driving down the road in the direction they had been walking.

"Even if we don't find a town, I'd say today was already successful," Beth declared happily.

Daryl squinted up ahead, a green sign slowly coming into view.

"The day might be gettin' even better," he muttered as the sign came into reading distance. "Greenville, 5 miles."

He raised his hand on the steering wheel to glance down at the gas gauge.

"Still got about a quarter of a tank left. Maybe we can find more gas in Greenville."

"Among other things," Beth said hopefully. Maybe they could find more food, toiletries, or even fresh clothing. She tried not to get her hopes up too high, but she couldn't help it. It felt like forever since Beth had seen an actual town.

Soon the truck was entering the small town. It was tiny, and according to the sign on the city limits, it had had a population of 876 before the outbreak. It was clearly a historical town, as several ornate old buildings lined the street. Beth smiled at the sight of a rather magnificent historical county courthouse, though it had clearly fallen into disrepair after the turn. The main road of the town circled around the courthouse, and Daryl pulled to a stop in front of a line of shops.

"Let's check out the pharmacy first," he said, nodding at the single-story white building with the words "Greenville Drug Co." displayed above the door.

Beth climbed out of the car and stretched, looking around the town square. Her eyes landed on a green sign with arrows pointing in the directions of nearby towns, and she felt a slight chill when she read the words "Woodbury" at the top of the sign.

"Daryl," she said softly. "Look."

Daryl followed her gaze and frowned at the sign. He wasn't sure how close Greenville was to Woodbury, but he had no desire to get any closer to it. It was no longer a threat, but the very name brought back too many painful memories for both of them.

"C'mon," he grunted, eager to get away from the reminder of Woodbury.

Daryl approached the pharmacy and gave the door a few loud taps. After a moment, two walkers shuffled into view, pressing their decaying bodies against the glass. Beth pulled open the door and Daryl quickly took down one with his crossbow, killing the other swiftly with his hunting knife. The pair cautiously entered the pharmacy, but aside from the two biters that had been within, it was quiet. Daryl grabbed a few plastic bags from behind the counter and handed a few to Beth.

"You take that side. Take anything that could be remotely useful," he said. She nodded and made her way over to the right side of the store.

It looked like the place had already been looted once or twice, but Beth was still able to find several luxury items that she almost moaned aloud upon seeing. Toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, body wash, shampoo, shaving razors, lip balm . . . all items that were not necessary for survival, but would drastically improve her day to day mood. She shoved them all into the plastic bags she was carrying with a wide smile on her face. She turned down the next aisle and was faced with feminine hygiene products. She realized with a start that she hadn't had a period since they had still been living at the prison. She wondered if the stress of survival had interrupted her cycle, and decided she had better grab some supplies to be prepared for whenever her period decided to make another appearance.

As she made her way down the aisle, shoving pantyliners and tampons into her bags, she came across the family planning section. The selection of condoms seemed to stare at her, and she blushed thinking about any scenario when she might need them. She was sure that Daryl didn't think of her as she had been thinking of him, but what if he changed his mind? What if she was finally able to make Daryl see her as a woman, a woman he wanted, and then was caught unprepared? She quickly glanced down the aisle to make sure Daryl wasn't watching before shoving two boxes of ordinary condoms into her bag. She quickly covered them with the packages of tampons, knowing Daryl wouldn't go digging in that bag for anything, and moved on.

"Find anything good?" Daryl's voice startled her as she came around the corner. She felt herself blushing at the thought of the condoms in her bag and nodded.

"Mostly just luxury items," she said. "I can't wait to wash my hair with the coconut shampoo I found!"

Daryl rolled his eyes at her. "Well, while you were nabbing girly shit, I got first aid supplies, ibuprofen, a map, and a couple bags of jerky that were under one of the shelves. All the other food is gone."

Beth nodded. "Let's put the bags in the truck and see what else we can find around here."

They exited the pharmacy and Beth scanned the shops that were near the pharmacy while Daryl loaded the bags in the truck. None of the stores looked particularly useful, but she found herself wandering toward a small clothing boutique. She turned to Daryl, who was eying her with arched eyebrows.

"Can we? Please? My clothes are so dirty, and I'd kill for a shirt to wear that isn't covered in dirt and walker guts."

Daryl rolled his eyes, but nodded, following her to the clothing boutique. He pounded on the door, but no biters made an appearance. Beth opened the door and Daryl entered first, his crossbow raised. The shop was empty, however, and he made his way back outside.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked.

"Found some cigarettes in the pharmacy," he said. "I'm gonna enjoy one out here while you do your shopping. Be quick about it."

Beth looked around the store and hurried over to a shelf where jeans were still folded neatly as if they hadn't been disturbed since the turn. She grabbed two pairs in her size, one in black and one in a lighter denim, and quickly grabbed a few shirts. She made her way back toward the dressing rooms to change into her new clothes and stopped upon seeing the intimates section. The bras and underwear were all fancier and more mature than the ones she wore now, and she felt a sudden sense of excitement upon seeing them. She had never worn lacy undergarments like these, and the thought of wearing something pretty underneath her clothes excited her. She picked out several pairs of delicate panties and two matching bras and took her pile of clothing into the dressing room to change.

When she emerged from the dressing room, Beth felt like a new woman, dressed in new clothes from head to toe. She had chosen the black jeans and a simple, loose gray tunic with a black cami underneath. She grinned at the thought of the black lace underwear that she wore under her new clothes, and she happily exited the store to find Daryl finishing his cigarette outside.

"Well, don't you look shiny and new," he remarked.

"You outta find some new clothes for yourself while we're here," Beth suggested. "You've been wearing those for over a month."

Daryl shrugged, his clothing the last thing on his mind. "Got better things to look for," he said. "Let's head over to that garage, see if there's stuff we can use for the perimeter alarm."

Beth followed Daryl across the street to a white auto garage. It was thankfully void of walkers, and she and Daryl quickly ransacked the place, taking things that could be used for the perimeter alarm as well as a few cans of gasoline and a fully-stocked toolbox that would surely be of use.

As they left the garage, Daryl stopped in his tracks and pointed toward the courthouse. About fifteen to twenty walkers were shambling in their direction.

"Time to go," Daryl grunted, running back to the truck with Beth on his heels. They tossed the supplies from the auto shop in the truck bed and Daryl quickly started the truck and began driving back down the highway they had come in on. Beth watched the small herd of walkers shuffling after them as the town disappeared behind them, the dead disappearing with it.

"I'd say today was a good day," Beth said with a smile.

Daryl glanced at her and smiled as well. "Yeah," he agreed. "Today was definitely a good day."


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry I haven't been able to update in a few days! Work has been crazy and I was pretty sick this weekend. Here is chapter six! It's another long chapter to make up for the wait. Please review! :)**

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><p>Beth was clearly in a good mood when they returned to the cabin. Daryl parked the truck on what remained of the dirt road that led to the place and started helping Beth carry their newfound loot inside. She grabbed a few of the pharmacy bags and her pile of clothing, humming as she made her way inside. Daryl almost smiled in spite of himself; her happiness was almost contagious. She jostled the bags in her hands and opened the door, disappearing inside. Daryl grabbed the toolbox and the remaining bags from the pharmacy. He decided to leave the cans of gasoline in the bed of the truck, since the truck itself would be where the fuel was needed. He slipped through the gap in the spikes and made his way up the porch, stopping when he saw something on the floorboards outside the door.<p>

He set the toolbox down and bent down to pick it up, suddenly realizing that it was a pair of underwear. It was made of delicate white lace, and he could tell that Beth had to have picked it up in the clothing boutique since the fabric was still crisp and new. She appeared suddenly in the doorway and glanced down at the underwear in his hand.

"Uh, you dropped this," Daryl muttered, shoving the panties into her hands as if they had burned him. He felt the back of his neck turning red as he grabbed the toolbox and moved past Beth to go inside. Images of Beth wearing the lacy white underwear flashed through his mind, as much as he willed them not to. The sight of her in her plain, light pink underwear from before had turned him on enough, and imagining her wearing the tiny white panties was too much for him. He could feel the rest of his face and ears flushing, and he tried not to look at her as she closed the door behind them with the underwear still in hand.

"You can't tell me that seeing women's underwear makes you _that _uncomfortable," Beth teased him as she placed the panties with the rest of her clothes.

Daryl grunted in response. He couldn't tell her that it wasn't the underwear, but the idea of _her _in the underwear that had irked him. It was completely inappropriate.

"Gonna go finish digging," he muttered, quickly fleeing back outside without meeting her eye.

He walked around to the back of the cabin and exhaled slowly. He reached into his pocket and fished out one of the cigarettes from the pack he'd found and lit it, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs. His attraction to Beth was getting out of hand if imagining her in racy underwear was enough to make him need a cigarette. He leaned against the back wall of the cabin and repeatedly reminded himself of how young Beth was. She may have been over 18, but that didn't really mean she was an adult. Just a few years ago she had been a suicidal teenager that he hadn't really cared about. He couldn't believe how different things were now.

He was able to admit to himself that he cared about Beth more than he had ever cared about most people. She was special and she saw the good in him, as she did with everyone. Daryl knew he never wanted to lose her or for anything bad to happen to her, and he knew he would give his life for her if it came down to it. But what he was having a harder time admitting to himself was his desire to make their relationship more than it was. He wished things could have stayed the way they were, as two people who cared deeply for one another, but were just friends surviving together in an ugly world. Romantic feelings and sexual attractions only complicated things, and they were two things Daryl Dixon had never been good at.

Daryl could hear Beth singing in the cabin, her sweet voice drifting through an open window somewhere. He finished his cigarette and picked up the bucket to resume digging. Maybe if he could focus his thoughts and energy on fortifying the cabin, he could keep inappropriate thoughts of Beth out of his mind.

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><p>Beth hummed softly to herself as she stirred the skillet of rabbit meat and dandelion leaves over the wood stove. After finishing the sharpened posts that now circled the entire cabin, Daryl had gone out to hunt and returned shortly after sundown with two decently sized rabbits for dinner. He had also brought several handfuls of dandelion leaves, which, while quite bitter, were edible. After Daryl had butchered the rabbits, Beth had put everything in a skillet along with some salt, pepper, and a little honey she had found in one of the cabinets to take away some of the bitterness of the dandelion.<p>

"I want you to teach me more about edible wild plants," Beth said as she stirred.

Daryl looked up from the map he had found at the drugstore and nodded.

"Probably a good idea," he agreed. "I don't know a lot, but what I do know is enough."

"Maybe we can find a library somewhere. Get some books on edible plants. Hell, any books to read would be amazing," Beth sighed. "I miss reading."

"Come look at the map," Daryl called her over. "I think I know about where we are."

Beth left the kitchen area and went to where Daryl was seated on the floor in the living room, reading the map by the light of the fire.

"Here's Greenville, the town we were in today. I think we're somewhere around here," he said, pointing at the map.

Beth's eyes traveled to the towns nearby and realized suddenly that Senoia, the town that had been closest to her family's farm, was only about 20 miles from Greenville. Maybe ten miles from where they were now.

"We're pretty close to the farm," she said quietly. "Do you think . . . do you think it would be safe to go back there?"

Daryl sighed, his eyes meeting hers. "I dunno, Beth. We could try. But I wouldn't get your hopes up. A herd the size of the one that drove us out coulda done serious damage to the house. Might not be much left."

Beth bit her lip and tried to quell the feeling of sadness that threatened to overcome her.

"I have to see it. I have to know."

Daryl held her gaze for a few moments and nodded.

"Okay. We'll go back there soon."

Beth blinked hard a few times and forced a smile. She cleared her throat and made her way back to the kitchen.

"Today was a good day," she said as she stirred the skillet and pulled it from the heat. "I'm gonna focus on that. We should be celebrating. Lots of good stuff happened today. We found a truck, got some goodies from town, figured out where we are, and finished getting the cabin fortified. This is the best day we've had in a long while."

"Yeah, it is," Daryl agreed with a half smile.

Beth served up the meal onto two plates, grabbing forks and bringing the meal into the living room where she set the plates on the coffee table. She sat down across from Daryl on one of the couches, and he pushed aside the map to eat his meal. She studied the map as she ate, estimating distances to nearby towns from the star Daryl had marked on the map as their location.

"We could try visiting Hogansville for supplies next," she suggested, pointing to it on the map. "I went there once for a fall festival with a friend of mine who had family there. It's bigger than Greenville, and I know they've gotta have a library."

"You're really set on finding a library," Daryl said.

"Well, now that we're sticking around here for a while and not runnin' for our lives so much, it would be nice to have some books to read. It's not like I can sit around watching TV. We have to go back to pre-TV forms of entertainment."

"Fuck, I miss TV," Daryl sighed, and Beth gave a small laugh.

"What was your favorite show?"

He shrugged. "Didn't really have one. Whatever was on, I guess."

Beth smiled, remembering watching shows like Gossip Girl with her friends or old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Maggie. She giggled to herself as she recalled the cheesy dialogue and overplayed drama that she couldn't help getting hooked on.

"What's so funny?" Daryl asked.

Beth shook her head and stood, grabbing both of their now-empty plates to take back to the kitchen.

"Just wondering how much ass Buffy Summers would be kicking in today's world."

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Can't say that Buffy was my cup of tea."

"Well she would be if she were here right now, I guarantee you that. She'd be one hell of an ally."

Daryl scoffed and stood and stretched. Beth quickly rinsed off their dinner plates and the skillet as Daryl made his way over to the front door.

"Time for watch already?" she asked. "It's barely past sundown."

"Nah, I'm just gonna do a quick perimeter check. Make sure no geeks are caught on our spikes."

Beth nodded and continued tidying up the kitchen while Daryl went outside. An idea suddenly popped into her mind and she began fishing around in one of the kitchen cabinets. When Daryl emerged back inside, Beth had the bottle of whiskey sitting on the counter.

"All clear," he stated. His eyes landed on the whiskey, and he arched his eyebrows at Beth.

"C'mon," she urged with a smile. "It's been a good day. Let's celebrate a little. I can't believe we still haven't drank any of this."

Daryl sighed, trying to think of reasons to turn her down, but coming up with none. The cabin was as secure as it could be, and Beth was right. It had been a good day.

"Okay," he agreed.

Beth's face lit up and Daryl was faced with the suspicion that she had, in fact, been planning to get him drunk since she found that damn bottle of whiskey. He watched her as she happily grabbed two glasses from one of the kitchen cabinets and made her way over to the coffee table with the glasses and whiskey in hand.

"Shouldn't get too drunk," Daryl muttered as he sat down on one of the couches, Beth climbing onto the couch next to him. "Just in case."

Beth ignored his comment and poured a decent amount of whiskey into each of the two glasses. She picked one of the glasses up and brought it to her nose, shivering as she smelled the whiskey's strong aroma.

"I've never had whiskey before," she stated. "But I guess since you were with me when I had my first drink, you already know that."

"It's different from moonshine. But since you were able to stomach the shine, I'm sure you'll do fine with whiskey."

Daryl grabbed the other glass and watched Beth's curious expression as she studied the drink in her hands.

"Well, cheers," she said with a smile, raising her glass to his with a soft clink. She took a tentative sip and winced, the liquor raising goosebumps on her skin.

"Ugh. It's better than moonshine, but it's still disgusting."

Daryl chuckled at her and took a sip from his own glass. He enjoyed the way the liquor burned down his throat. It had been too long since he had had whiskey. He watched Beth take a few more small sips and resisted the urge to laugh at the grimace she made each time she swallowed the booze.

"Would you be willing to play 'I Never' again?" Beth asked.

"That didn't turn out so well last time," Daryl muttered, feeling ashamed of how he had behaved during the game at the moonshine still.

"Yeah, but we were in a different state of mind then," Beth said. "We had a good day today, and we're in good spirits. As long as you don't go piss in the corner or drag me outside to shoot arrows at walkers, I think we'll be fine."

Daryl looked down at the glass in his hands, feeling uncomfortable. "Sorry about that," he said quietly.

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past now."

Daryl took a deep sip from his drink and met her gaze. "I'm still sorry."

"Like I said, it's in the past. So what do you say? I think you owe me a do-over."

Daryl nodded once. "All right," he agreed, already feeling slightly nervous as to how this would go.

Beth beamed at him, and he felt his chest tighten from the sight of her genuine smile. He took a sip of his drink in an attempt to ignore the feeling, even though it was clear that it wasn't going anywhere.

"I'll go first," Beth said, turning to face him and sitting cross-legged on the couch. "I've never had a beer before."

Daryl rolled his eyes and took a sip. "Okay, well I've never . . . used coconut shampoo before."

Beth grinned and took a sip of her own drink. "Hey, coconut shampoo at the end of the world is one of the best things there is! Umm, let's see . . . I've never gotten a tattoo."

"I've got a few," Daryl muttered, taking a drink. Beth knew about three of them; she had seen a large tattoo peeking out from his vest on his back at times, and she'd noticed the devil on his upper arm and the star on his hand. She wanted to ask him if he had more, and found herself imagining where they might be. She suddenly felt hot thinking about it, and she blinked and realized that Daryl was staring at her.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, I've never been to a country music concert."

"Really?" Beth took a drink. "Okay. I've never ridden a motorcycle."

Daryl took a sip of his drink and suddenly wished he still had his bike so that he could change that. He imagined what it would be like to have Beth pressed against him on the bike with her arms wrapped around his middle and the engine vibrating beneath them. He cleared his throat and pushed the thoughts away.

"I've never painted my nails."

Beth drank. "I've never gotten into a bar fight."

Daryl drank, looking at her sheepishly when her eyes widened in triumph.

"He deserved it," he muttered. Beth giggled, her head already swimming from the whiskey. He hummed in thought, straightening up when he thought of a good one.

"I've never been baptized."

"Your parents didn't . . .?"

Daryl shook his head. "Didn't give a shit about the state of their own souls or mine. Don't matter though. I don't really believe in that stuff anyway."

Beth drank, knowing that he didn't want her pity, but she couldn't help feeling for him. She sighed, trying to think of something.

"Um . . . I've never done drugs?" her voice raised as if it were a question. She wasn't sure if it was a bad topic to bring up or not, but her clear-headedness was rapidly decreasing, and she had blurted the first thing that came to her head. Daryl raised an eyebrow at her and took a drink.

"Drugs were more Merle's thing than mine, but I tried a lot of things," he explained with a shrug. "Most of that stuff's not worth trying. So don't feel like you're missing out on anything."

Beth smiled at him. "Just 'cause I wanted to try drinking doesn't mean I want to try other stuff."

"Good," Daryl nodded. His head was starting to get fuzzy, and he tried not to focus on how beautiful Beth looked by the light of the fire, her blue eyes wide and staring at him. "Umm . . . I've never been on a date," he blurted out, instantly regretting revealing such a thing to her.

"Never?" Beth gawked at him. She took a drink, but her expression didn't falter. "Why not?"

"Never really met a girl worth takin' out on a date," he shrugged. "A real date, I mean."

"Seems like you were looking in the wrong place for a girl."

"Yeah, probably," Daryl sighed. Not only had he not met any worthwhile women who he wanted to date, but he had never had the confidence to ask a woman out. Meeting women at bars was one thing, but taking a woman to a nice dinner or a movie was something Daryl had never done.

"I've never had a one night stand," Beth said suddenly, her cheeks instantly blushing as she said it.

Daryl slowly took a drink, his eyes still on her as he did. "Once again, you ain't missin' out. You're too young for that shit anyway."

She frowned. "I'm nineteen. I'm sure if the world hadn't ended, I probably would have had one by now 'cause I'd be in college, you know."

Daryl shook his head at her. He didn't like thinking about her age. She was staring at him indignantly, and he was at a loss for words. He raised his glass and took a long sip as she continued.

"I'm not a kid," she said. "And it's not that far-fetched of an idea. I'm not a virgin."

Daryl choked on his whiskey and lowered his glass, staring at her in surprise. Beth had always seemed so innocent; he had never imagined her to not to be a virgin. It was close-minded of him to assume so, but he found it hard to think of her as anything but pure.

"When? Who?" he choked out, still coughing from the whiskey.

"Zach. And it was only a few times," she admitted. "I didn't even like him that much. But with the way things are, I just didn't know when I would get another opportunity. It just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Damn," Daryl muttered. "Didn't think the kid had it in him."

"He didn't have much going for him. To be honest, it was pretty terrible," Beth said with a giggle. Daryl snorted. He imagined that much was true. Sex between Beth and Zach had probably been a horrible, fumbling affair, and he tried to squash his amusement at the thought of it.

"I think we've had about enough of this," Daryl stated, setting down his empty glass on the coffee table and pushing the bottle away from them.

"Yes, Mr. Dixon," Beth said with a smirk. She finished off the remaining whiskey in her glass and put it next to his on the table. The pair of them sat in silence for several moments, staring at the dying fire in the fireplace. The wind had picked up outside, but the cabin was cozy and warm.

"It's nice here," Beth said, breaking the silence. "I'm glad we found this place."

Daryl nodded. "I'm glad I found you."

"Me too," Beth said quietly, looking down at her hands and feeling almost overwhelmed with gratitude that she was here, in a warm, safe cabin with Daryl by her side instead of wherever she would have ended up if her kidnappers had succeeded.

"Don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you," Daryl said. He knew the booze was loosening his tongue, but he didn't care. "You . . . you're like sunshine, Beth. You make every day brighter."

Beth's gaze drifted to Daryl, a smile spreading across her lips at his words. She leaned closer to him, and Daryl stiffened, but didn't pull away. She slowly closed the distance between them, her lips brushing softly across his. For a moment, she let her lips linger there, and she soon felt the pressure of Daryl's lips returning the kiss. She sighed into his mouth and deepened the kiss, Daryl responding in kind and tangling his fingers in her hair. His tongue brushed against hers, and Beth moaned softly at the feeling. Daryl suddenly pulled away, as if he had been snapped out of a trance.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, removing his hands from her hair and pulling away from her. He stood from the couch and Beth frowned in confusion.

"What—?"

"This is wrong," he shook his head. "I can't do this with you. I'm almost twice your age."

Beth's expression turned angry. "Are you serious? You can't do this with me because of my age?"

"Think about it, Beth," Daryl sighed. "I'm almost forty. You're fuckin' nineteen. It's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong about it, Daryl," Beth snapped. "Whatever societal rules you're holding onto are obsolete, anyway. Think about what life is now, what we have to do to survive. Technically we murder and steal all the time. I don't think those rules apply anymore, do you?"

"I'm sorry," Daryl said again. "I just can't."

He turned and fled out the front door, closing it loudly behind him and leaving Beth staring at the closed door feeling angry and confused.

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><p><strong>Don't worry, y'all. Daryl will come round eventually. ;) Please review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**I just want to take a moment to thank each of you who continue to review this story! Work is cracking the whip harder than ever, but your reviews give me much-needed smiles every day! You are all amazing. :)**

**I like this chapter and I hope you do too. Please enjoy and review!**

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><p>Beth's head was pounding when she woke. She groaned and sat up in bed with a stretch. The previous night came rushing back to her; she remembered drinking whiskey and playing "I Never" with Daryl, and then she remembered kissing him and how he had rejected her. She hadn't attempted to approach him the night before and instead went to bed fuming. It was the first time she hadn't gone to sleep curled up next to him since they had been at the cabin. She had laid in bed alone for quite some time before falling asleep, but she never heard Daryl come back inside. His rejection of her had hurt and made her feel angry, confused, and everything in between.<p>

Beth sighed and flipped back the covers, pulling up the shoulder of the oversized flannel she had been wearing to sleep in. She opened the bedroom door and shuffled out into the cabin, which appeared to be empty. She made her way into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth, noticing that her eyes were puffy from restless sleep. When she finished brushing her teeth, she splashed some cold water on her face and went out into the living room, where she noticed that Daryl had scrawled a note on the back of a canned food label and had pinned the label to the door.

"Gone hunting," she read his chicken scratch handwriting aloud. She sighed. She didn't know if Daryl had slept at all the night before, and he was clearly avoiding her if he was leaving her notes to wake up to instead of telling her where he was going himself. It made her angry with him all over again. He was acting like a child, which was ironic considering that his objection to her young age had been what had started this mess.

She sat down heavily on one of the living room couches and laid down, tucking her legs into the flannel and curling into herself. A small part of her regretted kissing Daryl the night before, but only a small part. The whiskey had given her the courage to act on the desire she had been feeling for quite some time, and she didn't regret making her sentiments known. She just wished Daryl had handled it better. If he didn't want her, and not just because of her age, she needed to know.

Beth closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. As soon as Daryl returned from his hunt, she was going to make him talk about what had happened the night before. She wasn't going to let him run off again, and if he tried, there was going to be hell to pay. Beth was angry and needed answers.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," she muttered to herself, feeling the truth behind the words.

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><p>Daryl was avoiding the cabin. He had caught a fat opossum nearly an hour ago, but still he wandered through the woods, hardly even paying attention to any potential tracks on the ground. He knew he was just stalling before going back to the cabin to face Beth, but he wasn't ready for the conversation he knew she would want to have. She had thankfully let him be the night before, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Beth was angry and hurt, and it was unlikely that she would just let the whole thing go.<p>

He sighed to himself and sat down against a tree to rest. It had been a long night. He had kept watch for several hours and had eventually passed out on the front porch. He woke around dawn to the sounds of a snarling walker that had been caught on some of the spikes, reaching for him. He had put down the ghoul and then decided to head out to the woods to hunt. Even though he knew he probably should have woken Beth and told her where he was going, he hadn't wanted to face her yet, so he had settled for a note scrawled on the back of a canned food label and took off for the solitude of the woods. He had been out in the woods for a few hours now, and he knew he should be heading back soon, but the thought filled him with dread.

His mind had been reeling all night. He had been caught off guard when Beth had kissed him, and he couldn't ignore the feelings of electricity and warmth that had accompanied the kiss. He had kissed her back, and he hadn't wanted to stop, but the little breathy moan she had given when his tongue had brushed against hers had jolted him back to reality and reminded him how wrong his desires were. Beth had argued that nothing about it was wrong, and she had made a good point about societal "rules" being obsolete in today's world, but it didn't stop Daryl from feeling like a perverted old man taking advantage of a young girl. It made him feel dirty, and it was a feeling that Daryl was having a very difficult time coping with.

Beth was beautiful, inside and out, and Daryl wanted her. But his desire for Beth came coupled with self-loathing and berating thoughts. Beth deserved so much more than what he could offer her. He was a bitter, damaged man. She deserved someone younger and kinder, and he had no idea why she seemed to want him. He wished that he was able to give himself to her like she wanted, but it was easier said than done. He had convinced himself that he was sick and predatory for wanting her, and it was a hard thing to overcome. How could he be with her romantically when every less-than-pure thought or touch made him feel guilty and dirty?

Daryl had also thought about Hershel and what the old man would have done if he knew about the way Daryl had been thinking of Beth. Daryl had respected Hershel greatly, and he felt as though it was a disservice to the man's memory to even think of defiling his youngest daughter. If Heaven existed, Daryl was sure Hershel was there staring down at him now demanding that Daryl keep his filthy hands off his daughter. Between Daryl's self-hatred for his feelings and his respect for Hershel's memory, he couldn't see how things could ever work out with Beth beyond friendship.

Daryl groaned and hauled himself to his feet. It was nearing mid-morning, and Beth was probably waiting for him to return. He had to bite the bullet and talk to her. He had avoided her for too long. With a heavy sigh, he began walking in the direction toward the cabin, his footsteps heavy with trepidation.

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><p>Beth was sick of waiting. She had been unable to fall back asleep, and after laying on the couch for what felt like hours, she finally got up and got dressed. She had tidied the cabin as much as possible, and she had been pacing in the living room for quite some time. She was starting to go stir crazy. She knew Daryl was avoiding her, and the longer she waited, the more annoyed she got. Finally she decided that she had to get out of the cabin for a bit. The empty cabin was just a constant reminder of Daryl's absence.<p>

Beth made sure she had her Swiss army knife tucked in her pocket and shoved on her shoes. She decided to walk down to the stream that was a few hundred feet behind the cabin. It was a beautiful fall morning, and maybe the serenity of the stream would calm her. Beth closed the front door behind her and slipped through the gap in the spikes. She noticed the body of a walker that had been dragged away from the cabin a bit, which must have meant Daryl had killed it the night before. The bloody holes through its abdomen indicated that it had speared itself on the spikes, which made Beth feel better. At least the spikes were still working.

She soon reached the stream and sat down on a rock by the water's edge. Though her surroundings were peaceful, Beth still felt upset. She had run over the conversation she wanted to have with Daryl in her mind many times, and the anxiety over it only increased as time went on. She sighed heavily and bent down to remove her shoes, rolling up her jeans and placing her feet in the chilly water and enjoying the sensation of the water running over her bare feet. Her eyes traveled over the water and landed on a fairly large turtle sunning itself on a rock near the middle of the stream. She admired it for a few moments before realizing that the turtle could be a potential meal. She had no idea how to butcher a turtle, but she was sure Daryl could figure it out if he didn't know how already.

She wasn't sure how deep the water was near the middle of the stream where the turtle was sunbathing, but it looked as though she could get to if she used some of the rocks jutting out from the water as a walkway. Beth stood from where she was sitting and approached the first rock. She took a tentative step forward onto it, careful not to slip on the moss that coated its edges. She moved slowly as she approached the second rock so as not to scare off her prey. Her toes gripped the slick surface of the rock as she inched forward, her arms reaching out to grab the turtle and her brow furrowed in concentration.

Suddenly the snarl of a walker startled her out of her approach. Her eyes snapped up to the sound at the same time that her foot slipped on the wet rock upon which she stood. She caught a quick glimpse of the walker down the riverbank before she tumbled into the water. It was deeper than she had anticipated, and she emerged coughing and spluttering. The water went up past her waist, and it was freezing cold. Beth tried to catch her breath as she focused on the biter that was heading her way. As she tried to wade toward the opposite bank, she realized with horror that her foot was caught between the rocks under the water. She pulled hard, but her foot was wedged tight. She began to feel panicked as the walker entered the water and made its way toward her with its decaying arms reaching for her. No matter how hard she pulled, she was still caught. She resigned herself to fending off the ghoul in the water and frantically pulled her knife from her pocket, flipping open the blade and trying to steady her stance.

The walker was soon on her. Its jaws snapped at her, and she threw up her left arm to hold it at bay. With one foot caught, she was unsteady on her feet, and the force of the walker's attack made her stumble. She fell back against the rock she had fallen from and struggled to keep her head above the water and the walker's gnashing teeth away from her. She thrust her blade up and buried it in the biter's face, but her aim had been too low, the knife plunging into the rotter's cheek and accomplishing nothing. She frantically withdrew the blade and struck again, this time successfully piercing the walker's forehead and ending its second life. The weight of its body fell forward on her, pushing her back against the rock and underwater. She thrashed against the corpse, trying desperately to push it off of her. Her foot was still caught and she panicked, realizing she might drown if she couldn't free herself.

Suddenly the weight of the walker's corpse was lifted, and she burst to the surface, gasping for air. Daryl's face came into view on the rock above her, his expression panicked as he tossed the biter's body to the side and extended a hand to her to help her out of the water. Beth shook her head as she attempted to catch her breath.

"My foot's stuck," she said when she was able to speak. "It's wedged between some rocks underwater."

Daryl made to jump into the water, but Beth held up a hand to stop him.

"Let me see if I can dive under and see where it's stuck. You only have that one set of clothes, I don't want you getting them wet if you don't have to."

She took a deep breath and crouched down beneath the water's surface, opening her eyes and trying to see through the somewhat murky water. Her foot was caught in a narrow space between two rocks, but the fabric from her pants didn't seem to be caught on anything. Her foot was simply wedged in the tight space. Instead of pulling like she had been, she instead tried kicking forward, and immediately some of the pressure was relieved. She came up from underwater and stood before kicking forward again, this time freeing her foot from its trap.

"I got it," she said. She reached over to the walker's corpse and yanked her knife from its forehead and waded back toward the shore, Daryl carefully following alongside her on the rocks.

"How'd you fall in?" he asked.

"There was a turtle sunbathing on one of the rocks. I was trying to capture it for a meal," she said. "A walker came out of nowhere and startled me and I fell. I had to fight it off with my foot stuck in the rocks, and then its body crushed me after I killed it. You definitely have good timing. I could have drowned if you hadn't shown up when you did."

Daryl reached down to grab the dead opossum he had tossed on the riverbank, Beth grabbing her discarded shoes, and walked alongside her back toward the cabin. They slipped through the gap in the spikes and went inside, Beth's drenched clothing leaving a trail of dripping water on the floor. Daryl closed the door behind them and met Beth's eyes.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you," he said quietly. "I'm glad I came back when I did. Can't lose you."

Beth sighed. "What do you want, Daryl?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. What do you want with me? Sometimes you say things to me that make me think you want more than just my friendship, but you rejected me last night. What do you want?"

Daryl shrugged and avoided Beth's eyes. "I dunno."

"That's bullshit, Daryl. You do know. I know what I want. I know I want you. I want to be more than just your friend. Is that what you want, too?"

"It ain't just about what I want, Beth. That's not the issue."

"Then what is?" Beth demanded. "Is it just because of my age?"

Daryl didn't answer, just gave a half shrug of his shoulders.

"What if I was ten years older? Would you want to be with me then?"

"But you ain't ten years older, Beth. You're nineteen. I know you say social rules don't matter anymore and you're right, they don't, but that don't change the fact that I feel like a dirty old man every time I think about touchin' you."

"But that's not true. You aren't a dirty old man. It's not like you're taking advantage of me or anything like that. I want this, and there's nothing wrong with it."

Daryl sighed, his heart almost aching. "You don't think so, but I do. How can you expect me to be with you when I constantly feel guilty for thinking of you that way? Do you have any idea what that's like? To be constantly disgusted with yourself for what you feel? I can't give in to what I want, because then I'll just hate myself more."

Beth's frustrated expression softened, and she took a step toward him. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she said gently. "But it's all in your head. You've convinced yourself that wanting me is wrong, but you're the only one who thinks so. You have the power to change it."

He shook his head, wishing it were easier to change his way of thinking. Beth tentatively took another step forward and took his hands in hers.

"It's the end of the world, Daryl," Beth said quietly. "You shouldn't try to convince yourself that you're doing something wrong. Our lives could be short, and we don't really have time for that. You aren't doing anything wrong. And I'm not a child. I'm a woman, and I'm old enough to know what I do and don't want. I want you. There is _nothing _wrong with that."

Daryl nodded once, his throat feeling tight. How could Beth be so kind and understanding when he told her that thinking of her made him disgusted with himself? He didn't deserve her kindness or her desire.

"So will you at least admit to me that you want more with me?" she asked.

"Okay," he said, exhaling a long breath. "I do. I just . . . I can't just do a complete 180 and rewire the way my brain thinks. I'll try, but it's easier said than done."

Beth's face broke into a warm, genuine smile, and Daryl felt the tightness in his chest that he was starting to frequently feel when she smiled.

"Good. That's better than anything I was hoping for," she said. She stepped away from him and peeled the wet shirt from her body.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Daryl asked, instinctively taking a step back from her.

"Just getting out of these wet clothes," Beth said as she tugged off her soaked jeans. She stood before him wearing nothing but a pair of black lacy panties and a matching black bra, looking more womanly than Daryl had ever seen her.

"Beth . . ." Daryl's heart was racing as she took a step closer to him. He tried not to look at her body, but he felt unable to draw his eyes away from her.

"See? I'm a grown woman," she said. "And however you're feeling when you look at me is not wrong. You need to start telling yourself that."

Daryl stood frozen to the spot, torn between his impulse to bolt away from her and to keep staring at her. She took another step toward him and stood directly in front of him. Before he could stop her, she turned her face up toward him and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. Daryl kept his hands firmly at his sides, his hands curled into tight fists. He tentatively kissed her back, but kept his response as innocent as he could. She pulled away after a moment, her wide blue eyes shining and her lips spreading into a smile.

"You can touch me," she said softly, glancing down at Daryl's tightly clenched fists that remained at his sides.

"Can't," he muttered, his voice hoarse.

"Why not?"

"Cause if I start touchin' you, I won't be able to stop."

Beth felt a heat in the pit of her stomach upon hearing his words, and it took all her self-control not to immediately press her body against his.

"Maybe that's not a bad thing," she whispered.

Daryl shook his head and took a step back from her.

"I can't," he said again. "Not yet. I'm tryin' here, Beth. You gotta give me time to adjust to this whole idea."

Beth sighed, but nodded in understanding.

"Okay," she said. "Whatever you need."

She stepped away from him and walked away into the bedroom to change into some dry clothes. As much as she needed Daryl to touch her, to possess her completely, she would gladly wait if it meant she could eventually have him. However, the throbbing she felt between her legs at the thought was impossible to ignore. She just hoped she would be able to wait as long as Daryl needed to feel comfortable with her. She wasn't usually impatient, but Beth wasn't sure how long her resolve would last.

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><p><strong>Now we're getting somewhere . . . ;) Please review!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Happy Friday, everyone! It has been a long week! Please enjoy and review! :)**

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><p>Beth stirred in her sleep, squirming against him and nuzzling her head further up his chest. It was shortly after dawn, and Daryl had been awake for about twenty minutes, just watching the beautiful blonde who was asleep in his arms. She had one leg thrown over his own, and though the flannel she always wore to sleep in had ridden up to expose her thighs, Daryl did his best not to focus his attention there. Instead he absentmindedly played with the ends of her hair and marveled at how serene she looked while sleeping. He was unable to move without waking her, but Daryl was in no hurry to leave the bed.<p>

It was the third morning in a row that he had woken up with Beth this way. He knew it probably wasn't wise to forgo taking watch overnight, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Beth after she fell asleep. Before Beth, Daryl had never experienced falling asleep with a woman, let alone waking up with one, and he had to admit that he liked the feeling of it. His encounters with women had usually been drunken one-night-stands, and he and his partners never hung around afterward. Daryl was still in awe that a woman would want to cuddle next to him all night. He wanted to bask in the feeling for as long as it lasted.

He was getting better at telling himself that it wasn't wrong to be with Beth, but it was still difficult to let go of the thoughts completely. He couldn't believe how patient Beth was being with him. It just made him think that he didn't deserve her even more, no matter how many times she told him that wasn't true. She was so positive and so beautiful inside and out, and Daryl couldn't believe that such a woman wanted him. She was patiently nurturing him and steering his thoughts in a more positive direction, which was also very new to Daryl.

He still hadn't allowed himself to take things further than just innocent kisses and touches, however. Beth was always the one to initiate things, and Daryl always stopped her before things got heated. He wasn't ready for that level of affection just yet. Despite the improvements in his thoughts, he knew that if he allowed himself to touch her the way he wanted to, he would end up taking two steps back and being disgusted with himself. Every time her lips began to press harder against his, he imagined throwing her against the nearest wall and fucking her ruthlessly, and the thoughts of dominating her in such a way still made him feel guilty and ashamed. His desire felt like a caged wild animal that, once released, couldn't be controlled, and the thought almost scared him. He was only just now getting used to showing innocent affection to Beth; he certainly wasn't ready to take things further. He was afraid of how far he would push things, and how much his mind would degrade himself for it afterward. He knew Beth wanted him to take things further, and he noticed the little disappointed sighs she gave when he pulled away from her, but he couldn't give in yet. Once he did, there would be no going back.

Beth stirred again in her sleep, bringing Daryl out of his thoughts. Her eyes opened slowly, and Daryl felt a warmth in his chest as a small smile began to spread across her face as she looked up at him. He smiled back at her.

"Morning," he said, his voice still a little rough from sleep.

"Morning."

Beth sat up and stretched. She glanced to the curtained window and observed the early morning sunlight leaking in around the edges of the curtain.

"Is it early?" she asked. Daryl nodded.

"Bout half an hour past dawn."

Beth nodded and crawled off the bed. She went to the dresser and pulled out some clothing to wear for the day. She began to unbutton the flannel to change, prompting Daryl to awkwardly clear his throat and stand from the bed.

"Gonna take a piss," he muttered, quickly exiting the room before she could remove the flannel. She had been changing in front of him shamelessly the past few days, and Daryl always tried to leave the room before he could see anything. It was hard enough not touching her when she was fully clothed, but seeing her in her lacy underthings drove him crazy. He realized that Beth was probably changing in front of him on purpose, as if she had an agenda to force him to see her body in an attempt to change his mind about touching her. But Daryl hadn't given in yet, despite how much he wanted to.

After relieving himself, Daryl grabbed one of the remaining bags of jerky from the pharmacy and tore it open, taking a few strips out to serve as a meager breakfast for him and Beth. They needed to find more food soon, and not just meat he could bring home from hunting. They needed fruits and vegetables. They were planning to visit Hogansville soon, but Beth also wanted to go back to the farm, and Daryl had realized the night before that the farmhouse might still have a decent stash of canned food if no one else had raided it since their group had been driven out. During their stay at the farm, they had always been well fed, which meant the farm had to have had a decent supply of food. If the farmhouse was still standing, it would be a mutually beneficial visit—Beth could visit her family's former home for closure, and they could possibly end up with more supplies.

Beth emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed and with her hair pulled into a ponytail. Daryl handed her a few strips of jerky, which she graciously accepted.

"Was thinkin' we could try goin' to the farm today," he suggested.

"Really? I would like that."

Daryl nodded. "I was also hopin' that maybe there's still some food there we could take. Assuming no one else has looted it already."

Beth's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, you're right," she said excitedly. "Patricia was always really into canning, and we had a bunch of canned fruits and vegetables in the cellar. I don't think anyone would have been able to get into the cellar. Daddy always kept it locked, but I know where the key is."

"Why'd he lock it?" Daryl wondered.

Beth looked at him a little sheepishly. "Even after he invited everyone to move into the house, he still didn't completely trust everyone with the food. He wanted to be the one to ration it out. So he kept the cellar locked to prevent people from taking anything."

Daryl smiled in memory of Hershel, silently thanking him for his paranoia, as it would now work out to his and Beth's benefit.

"Okay. Let me do a quick perimeter check and then we'll head out."

Beth finished her share of jerky and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth while Daryl checked the perimeter. Even though it may not have been the safest idea, she enjoyed that he had been staying with her throughout the night instead of taking watch. She also had to admit that she loved waking up with him in the morning, rather than being woken a few hours before dawn to take her turn for watch. So far, the spikes outside the cabin had been doing their job well. No walkers had made it past the spikes, and even if they did, they had a perimeter alarm that circled the entire cabin now, and that would alert them to potential threats. She hoped Daryl would continue to spend the nights with her.

"All clear," Daryl called as he came back inside. Beth finished brushing her teeth and went out into the living room. She grabbed her backpack, which contained necessities in case of any potential troubles on the road, and slung it over her shoulder. She also grabbed the map that was still on the coffee table from several days before.

"Ready?"

Daryl nodded and held open the front door for her, closing it behind them. They made their way over to the truck and Daryl hotwired it to get it started. The engine was loud in the quiet woods, and they were soon on their way.

"Head east once we get to the road," Beth instructed as she followed the route on the map with her finger. "Then when we get to highway 85, we'll take that north about 5 miles until we get to the farm."

They drove in silence, and Beth stared out the window feeling more nervous as they drove on. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find at the farm. She hoped it would remain intact so that she could give the place a proper goodbye. She also wanted to find a family photo to take with her, so that she could always have a picture of those who were no longer with her.

As Daryl finally turned down the road that led to the farm, Beth took deep breaths to try to quell her anxiety. She noticed Daryl glancing at her often, and she tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. He reached into her lap and took one of her hands in his, and Beth felt the tightness in her chest ease a bit. Finally the farmhouse came into view, and Beth exhaled in relief to see that it was still standing.

Daryl parked the truck near the front door. He saw a few walkers shambling toward the truck by the charred remains of the barn, but at the present moment, they appeared to be the only immediate threat. He gave Beth's hand a reassuring squeeze before dropping her hand and exiting the truck, crossbow at the ready. Beth slowly climbed out of the passenger side and looked around, almost as if in a daze. She followed Daryl toward the three walkers that were heading in their direction. He swiftly killed one of them with his crossbow, and each of them pulled out their knives and made quick work of the other two.

"Don't see any more around, but that don't mean they ain't there. Keep your guard up," Daryl said as he retrieved his arrow from the ghoul's skull. Beth nodded, keeping her knife open and in her grasp as she followed Daryl back toward the house.

They quietly climbed the porch steps and approached the front door, which wasn't completely latched shut from their hasty escape all those months ago. Beth reached for the door, her hand shaking a bit, and pushed it open. Daryl held up a hand to stop her from entering and knocked loudly on the door frame. Nothing made itself known inside the house, and Daryl cautiously entered, his crossbow ready. Beth tentatively followed him inside.

Everything looked exactly as she remembered it, only now it was covered in a layer of dust. Beth swallowed hard as memories began to run through her mind. They were happy memories, but seeing the house this way now made her feel sad. She followed Daryl from room to room until the first floor of the house was deemed clear. Beth wandered into the kitchen, her mind flashing with images of baking with her mother and of the family dinners her father had always insisted on when Maggie and Shawn were home from college. She sat down heavily at the small kitchen table, unable to control the tears that spilled down her cheeks.

Daryl moved from where he had been watching her in the doorway to stand beside her. He awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder, unsure how to comfort her. Beth leaned into him and wiped the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "It's just hard to see it like this."

"I know," Daryl said quietly.

"But I'm glad it's still here." Beth sniffed and stood from the kitchen table, trying to compose herself. "I'm glad I got to see it again." She made her way over to the kitchen counter next to the sink and grabbed a ceramic jar that held kitchen utensils. She emptied the utensils onto the counter and retrieved the key that was hidden at the bottom of the jar.

"Key to the cellar," she said, handing it to Daryl. "We can go down there in a minute. But I want to go upstairs first. I want to grab a few things."

Daryl nodded and put the key in his pocket. He made his way over to the staircase and gently pushed Beth behind him.

"Let me go first," he said, hoisting up his crossbow. "Just in case."

She nodded and followed him up the stairs, trying to be quiet despite how loudly each step creaked from their weight. When they reached the top of the stairs, Daryl banged loudly on the wall. The upstairs was silent, however, and they cautiously moved forward. Beth stepped around Daryl and entered her room, a sad smile on her face from the familiarity of the room. Daryl stood watching her from the doorway as she looked around. She looked at the jewelry scattered on her dresser, the books on the shelf in the corner, and the photos of her friends around the room.

"All this feels like it was from a lifetime ago," she said softly. "I feel like I don't even know the girl whose room this was."

"Well, it's like you said," Daryl muttered, his voice quiet. "You ain't a girl anymore. You're a woman."

Beth turned to him, her sad smile turning brighter and reaching her eyes.

"You're right. That's a good way to look at it."

She went to her bookshelf and grabbed a few of her favorites, as well as a deck of cards, a ring that had been her mother's, and a pair of what used to be her favorite PJ pants. The weather was turning colder, and she knew she would be grateful for them when winter hit. She took a final glance around her room and sighed, mentally saying goodbye to the girl she had been when she had lived here last. She left the room and closed the door behind her.

"I just wanna grab one more thing from the dining room, then we can go check out the cellar," she said, heading back down the stairs. She walked into the dining room and smiled upon seeing the framed family photo on the wall. It had been taken about a year before the turn, and they all looked so happy. She pulled the photo off the wall and tucked it beneath her arm, trying not to start crying again at the memory of her deceased family.

"I'm gonna put this stuff in the truck," she said. Daryl nodded and followed her outside, keeping his eyes on alert for more walkers as she stashed her things in the truck. Then he followed her around the house to the cellar doors out back, fishing the key out of his pocket to unlock them. He hauled the doors open and descended into the dark cellar, whistling upon seeing the many jars of canned food lining the shelves in the cellar.

"Jackpot," he muttered, and Beth grinned.

"Told you Patricia was really into canning."

They both began eagerly piling jars into their arms and carrying them all back to the truck. It took five trips to clear out the cellar, and Beth already couldn't wait to bust into one of the jars of canned peaches.

"It feels so strange to be looting my own house," she said.

"Then don't think of it as looting. Think of it as comin' back for things you left behind."

Beth smiled at him and looked toward the house.

"I'm just gonna go say goodbye," she said. "Then we can be on our way."

Daryl nodded and leaned against the truck, watching her as she wandered back up the front porch steps and inside the house. Beth stood in the entryway, the silence of the home deafening to her. The house had always been so full of life and love. She missed her family and the good times they'd had in this house, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she even wanted that life back. As she thought of the man outside waiting for her who was quickly becoming such an important part of her life, Beth just felt thankful that she had such wonderful memories to carry with her.

She smiled sadly, taking one last look at the house she had grown up in.

"Goodbye," she whispered, bidding farewell both to the house and to the girl she had been. She turned around and walked slowly back outside, shutting the door tight behind her. She took a deep breath and decided to focus on what lay ahead, not what she had left behind.

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><p><strong>This chapter was a little fluffy, but be patient, dear readers. The smut you crave is just around the corner. ;)<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**For all of you who have been patiently awaiting delicious Bethyl smut, this chapter is for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go take a cold shower . . .**

**Enjoy! ;)**

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><p>Beth leant down and pointed to some tracks in the dirt. She looked to Daryl, who was close behind her.<p>

"Rabbit, right?" she asked.

Daryl nodded. "See if you can follow it."

Beth cautiously proceeded forward, quite conscious of how close Daryl was behind her. It would be so easy to stop in her tracks and grind her ass back into him. She blinked hard and tried to concentrate on following the indentations in the soil. It had been her idea for him to keep teaching her how to track, so she should really be focusing on the task at hand.

It had now been five days since Beth had managed to get Daryl to admit he wanted something more with her. In that five days, he was doing much better with innocent displays of affection, and he was even starting to initiate some kisses. However, Daryl still hadn't allowed things to go past chaste kissing. He had hardly even kissed her with tongue, and Beth knew he was trying as hard as he possibly could to hold back. She could feel how tense he became when they got close. His muscles tightened up, and the tension in his very aura was palpable. But still he kept his hands off her body and stopped things when she tried to become more passionate.

Beth Greene had never known what it was like to feel truly sexually frustrated until now. She was constantly distracted with fantasies of Daryl pinning her to the nearest tree or wall and having his way with her. She throbbed between her legs almost every time she looked at him. It was driving her crazy. She had never wanted anyone as badly as she wanted Daryl.

She heard Daryl muttering something indiscernible behind her, his gravelly voice making a shiver run down her spine. She imagined how it would feel if he suddenly pulled her against his chest and ran his hands over her body, his erection grinding against her backside. She almost moaned aloud at the thought.

"Where you goin'?" Daryl's voice startled Beth out of her fantasy.

"Uh . . . what?"

"Tracks go this way," Daryl said with a frown. "Damn girl, where's your mind today?"

Beth felt a blush creep up her cheeks and tried to force a smile.

"Sorry. I'm just . . . distracted."

Daryl rolled his eyes and moved past her. "Why don't you let me take the lead? We need to catch this thing. Storm's comin'."

"How can you tell?" Beth asked, looking up at the sky, which was mostly clear.

"You haven't noticed the wind pickin' up? Or how the temperature has dropped in the past twenty minutes?"

Beth shrugged, looking up and noticing the way the trees were indeed swaying more strongly than before, and the chill that had suddenly appeared in the air. She squinted in the direction the wind was coming from and, sure enough, she saw dark clouds in the distance.

"You really have been distracted today," Daryl muttered, continuing on in hopes of catching the rabbit before the storm hit.

Beth followed behind him and tried her hardest not to think of doing naughty things with Daryl and instead tried to focus on following the tracks and keeping her footsteps quiet. After a short while Daryl held up a hand to stop her, pointing silently to the large rabbit that sat in front of them about thirty feet away. Daryl slowly raised his crossbow and aimed carefully. When he released the bolt, it sailed through the air and hit its target perfectly. Daryl grinned and stood to collect his kill.

"All right, now that we've got dinner, we better get back."

Beth nodded and turned around to head back to the cabin. The light from the setting sun was shining on the approaching dark clouds and making them look darker and more eerie. The wind started to pick up more force as they walked, and Beth could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. The clouds were rapidly closing in on them, and Beth could just see the cabin in the distance when the skies began to open, first a few fat raindrops and then suddenly hundreds falling on them within a few seconds. Beth gave a little shriek and began to run toward the cabin with Daryl on her heels.

By the time they reached the screened in porch, both of them were soaked through. They hurried inside and closed the door behind them as the rain and wind intensified. Beth giggled as she looked at Daryl with his wet hair drooping around his face. He smirked at her and swept his wet hair out of his eyes, tossing the rabbit onto the kitchen counter.

"We should have headed out earlier in the day," he said. "I thought we could make it back before the rain."

"We almost did," Beth grinned at him.

She shuffled over to him and pulled him into a wet hug. Beth stood on her tip toes and brought her lips to Daryl's. He kissed her back softly, keeping his arms wrapped around her. Images of each of them stripping each other of their wet clothing flashed through Beth's mind, and she kissed him deeper, her lower body grinding into his just slightly. Daryl's hands dropped to her waist, and Beth almost thought he was about to slip his hands beneath her shirt, but instead he gently pushed her away.

"We should change outta these wet clothes," he muttered gruffly.

Beth sighed and resisted the urge to scream in frustration. She didn't want to pressure Daryl into doing something he didn't want to do, but Beth had needs, needs that he was refusing to even consider meeting. She realized that Daryl had only recently started thinking of her as a woman rather than a girl, but she wished he would treat her like one. Otherwise, Beth was likely to go crazy.

She said nothing to him and walked away into the bedroom to change. She peeled the wet clothes from her body, including her bra and underwear. She stood naked in front of the dresser, almost hoping that Daryl would walk in at that very moment. Beth quickly pulled on the pair of white lace panties and opted to wear the oversized flannel that she had begun to love wearing as her sleep shirt. She buttoned up the flannel and grabbed a pair of pants and a plain white undershirt for Daryl to wear while his clothes dried.

"These are going to be too big for you, but they'll have to do," she said as she went back out into the living room with the clothes in hand.

"Thanks," Daryl said as he accepted the clothing.

"Hey, you know what? You should let me wash your clothes. Since you need to get out of them anyway. They're absolutely filthy and in desperate need of a wash," Beth suggested.

Daryl nodded. He couldn't deny that his clothes were quite dirty. It had been ages since they had been washed. He set the dry clothes on the couch and looked to Beth, almost if he expected her to leave so he could change. When she stayed put, he sighed and reluctantly pulled his shirt and vest from his head. Beth bit her lip and tried not to stare at his bare chest. It was the first time she had seen him shirtless, and it was doing nothing to quell her fantasies of him. Her eyes traveled down his body to his waist, where his hands unfastened his pants and tugged them down. He stepped out of them and stood before her in only his boxers. He cleared his throat at her and she blinked, realizing that she had been obviously staring. She blushed and quickly headed into the bathroom to start filling the tub to wash the laundry. The heat in the pit of her stomach from the sight of Daryl nearly naked was driving her insane.

A few moments later, Daryl appeared in the bathroom door with his dirty clothes in hand. The dry clothing was definitely too big and hung loosely on him, but it would do. Beth took the wet clothes from him and tossed them into the bathtub. She stepped around him without a word and went to retrieve some of her own clothing to wash and the bar of laundry soap. Daryl watched her moving about with a concentrated expression on his face.

"I've been thinkin'," he said suddenly as Beth knelt down to begin scrubbing the clothing.

"About what?"

"About how long we should stay here."

Beth looked up, worried he would say that they should move on soon. They had been at the cabin for about two weeks, but she wasn't anywhere near ready to move on. Living in the cabin with Daryl had made her the happiest she had been since before they had lost the prison, and she didn't want to give it up yet.

"How long do you want to stay?" Beth asked softly.

Daryl shrugged. "I know finding our people is still important to you. But the fact is that winter will be here soon, and this cabin . . . it's a pretty good thing for us. It's a roof over our heads, and the fireplace and the wood stove can keep us warm. We've got an all right defense system in place, and as long as no big herds pass through, I think that'll hold us just fine."

Beth nodded in agreement, hoping this was going where she thought it was.

"Are you saying you think we should stay here for the winter?"

"I wanna know what you think," Daryl said. "But yeah. I think it could be a good idea."

"Me too," Beth said quickly. "I mean, I think it's a good idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I like it here. Living here with you makes me happy," Beth said with a smile, and Daryl returned the gesture.

"Me too."

Beth felt a warmth in her chest. She was relieved that they wouldn't be leaving the cabin anytime soon. She would get to continue having Daryl to herself for a while, and she loved the sound of that. She turned back to the laundry in the tub with a smile on her face.

"I'll go roast up that rabbit while you do this," Daryl offered, and Beth nodded in agreement. She was willing to play house like this with Daryl for as long as he would let her.

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><p>The rain continued to come down outside throughout the night, and Beth grew sleepy as she read one of her books by the fire. Daryl was working on crafting new arrows from wood, and the steady sound of his knife shaving along the wood was slowly lulling her into sleepiness. They had eaten a good meal and had spent an hour or two relaxing by the fire while the storm raged outside. Beth wondered if the storm would rile up the walkers, but so far they hadn't had any incidents, and Beth hoped things would remain that way.<p>

"I'm gonna go to bed," Beth said, standing from the couch and stretching. She noticed Daryl glance at her thighs when her flannel rode up, but he quickly averted his eyes.

"I'll be in in a little while," he muttered. "Wanna finish a few more arrows."

"Okay."

Beth leaned toward him and placed an innocent kiss on his lips before shuffling away into the bedroom. She closed the door partway so that she could still hear the rhythmic sound of Daryl's knife sliding across the wood as he worked and fell onto the bed. She closed her eyes, but instead of falling asleep, her mind once again began to race with images of Daryl naked and inside her. She imagined what it would feel like to have his rough hands on her skin while he made love to her, and she throbbed between her legs again. Beth sighed in frustration. She listened to make sure she could still hear Daryl working in the living room before slipping her hand into her panties and finding her throbbing center.

She began rubbing circles on her clit, closing her eyes and imagining that Daryl was on top of her and running his cock against her slit before sliding inside. She bit her lip and imagined that he had her hands pinned above her head. Her fingers worked her clit faster as she pictured Daryl's dick sliding in and out of her and fucking her hard. She let loose a small moan at the thought, and the sound suddenly brought her back to the present. She opened her eyes and saw with a start that Daryl was standing in the doorway watching her, frozen to the spot and his mouth open in shock. Beth gasped in surprise; she hadn't even heard him come in.

"S-sorry," Daryl stammered, immediately turning to flee back to the living room.

"Wait!" Beth called out, withdrawing her hand from her panties and sitting up abruptly. "Please don't go."

Beth could see Daryl's jaw tighten as he looked to the floor, rooted to the spot.

"Please," she said again, reaching out for him.

Daryl slowly moved to the edge of the bed and stood staring down at her. Beth rose to her knees to be level with him and moved close to him. She knew her skin was flushed, but she could also feel the heat coming from Daryl's skin. His eyes were dark, and the blue of his eyes was being overtaken by his dilated pupils. Beth reached for him and pulled him close to her, leaning her forehead against his.

"Touch me," she whispered. "Please, Daryl."

Beth could feel how tense he was, and he slowly raised his arms and ran his fingers through her hair. He tentatively pressed his lips against hers, kissing her softly for several moments. His kisses slowly grew more passionate, and Beth could feel his grip gradually tightening on her hair. Suddenly, it was as if a dam inside him broke. His body melted against hers, his kisses suddenly possessive and rough. Beth moaned into the kiss, and a low growl emerged from deep in his throat. Beth pulled Daryl down on top of her on the bed, his lips still dominating hers with bruising force.

Beth ground her lower body into Daryl's, causing his kiss to become even more aggressive. He moved to lay beside her and ran his calloused fingertips along the smooth skin of her thighs. His touch wandered under the flannel, and Beth felt a surge of heat when his hand palmed one of her small breasts, giving it a soft squeeze. She quickly fumbled with the buttons on her flannel and tore them open, exposing herself to him. She shrugged out of the sleeves and lay before him in only her panties. Daryl began kissing down her neck and chest, his facial hair scratching her skin, and Beth let out a small moan when his kisses reached her breasts. He pulled one of her small hardened nipples into his mouth and ran his tongue over it, while at the same time running a rough hand down her body and slipping it beneath the waistband of her panties. He slid his fingers over her slit, feeling how wet she was, before roughly tugging the panties down her legs and throwing them to the floor.

Beth slipped her hands under Daryl's shirt and began tugging it upwards, feeling the need to even the score since she was now completely naked next to him. Daryl removed his mouth from her breasts to allow her to tear the shirt over his head, and then he brought his lips back to hers. His hand slid down her body and between her legs, and Beth gave a shuddering gasp into the kiss as he slid one finger inside her. He slowly moved his finger in and out a few times before sliding her wetness up to her clit, where he began moving his fingertip in small, tight circles, using her juices as lubrication. Beth felt as though her entire body was buzzing from his touch, and she began to grow lightheaded as Daryl continued to circle her swollen nub. She felt the pleasure beginning to build as his ministrations continued, periodically dipping his finger back inside her for more lubrication. Beth broke from the kiss and threw her head back, unable to contain her breathy moans as Daryl brought her closer to her release. Finally, she reached her peak, the pleasure exploding between her legs. Daryl pressed down hard on her clit as she rode out her orgasm, waves of dizziness now overcoming her.

As soon as she felt that she could breathe again, Beth's hands urgently tore at Daryl's pants. She unfastened them and quickly tugged them down, and Daryl assisted her, kicking off the pants and leaving him now just as naked as she. Her eyes took in the sight of his erection, and she immediately noticed that he was quite a bit larger than Zach had been, which gave her a bit of a thrill. She wrapped a hand around the base of his cock and slowly moved her hand up and down a few times, enjoying the look on Daryl's face as she gripped him. He didn't allow her to grasp him for long however, and he soon seized her wrist and pressed both of her hands above her head, pinning both wrists easily with one hand. He moved himself between her legs and stared down at her, the intensity of his expression filling Beth with anticipation and need.

Daryl aligned himself with her entrance. He maintained eye contact with her as he slowly slid inside her, filling her all the way to the hilt. Beth felt herself stretching to accommodate him, but the feeling was amazing. He let out a long breath once he was completely sheathed inside her.

"God, Beth, you're so fuckin' tight," he groaned.

He allowed her a moment to adjust to him before slowly starting to move, withdrawing himself almost to the tip before slowly pushing back in. He released her hands and Beth buried them in his hair, crashing her lips to his as he slowly moved inside her. She had never felt so filled, so complete, and she began to raise her hips to meet his as he moved. Daryl began to increase his pace, and he began to thrust into her with more force. Beth moaned each time he hit a sweet spot deep inside her, a spot that she hadn't known existed until now. He placed a hand under her ass and lifted her up slightly, allowing him to fuck her even deeper than before. Beth felt a pressure building inside her as he pounded into her.

"Don't stop," she commanded as the pressure continued to build.

Daryl increased his pace again, his cock hitting that delicious spot inside her over and over. Beth felt herself on the precipice of orgasm, her toes curling and her eyes squeezing shut. After a few more thrusts, Beth's climax exploded, sending waves of intense pleasure radiating from her center throughout her entire body. She felt her walls clenching tight around him as she came, and another wave of dizziness washed over her. Before she could even come down from her orgasm, Daryl pulled out of her and finished on her belly.

Beth panted in an attempt to catch her breath. Daryl grabbed the white undershirt he had been wearing and used it to wipe his cum from her stomach, his own breathing just as labored as hers. He flung the shirt to the floor and collapsed beside her on the bed. Beth realized that they hadn't used a condom, but at that moment, she didn't care. Her ears were ringing and her body felt as though it were humming.

"Oh my god, Daryl," she panted. "That was . . . I don't even have words for how amazing that was."

Daryl smirked at her and propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"God no," Beth shook her head. "In fact, that was the first time I've ever . . . you know . . . during sex."

Daryl frowned at her. "Zach never . . .?"

She shook her head. "No. I mean, he got me off in other ways, but until now, I never actually came inside like that. I didn't think I could. _Cosmo_ said some women can't, and I just assumed . . ."

Daryl exhaled and shook his head at her. "You sure you're not just bullshittin' me to boost my ego?" he smirked at her.

"I'm serious, Daryl!" Beth exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face. "I didn't know it was possible to feel that good."

Daryl smiled down at her, and Beth sat up and straddled him. She grinned down at him.

"Let's do it again."

"Christ, woman," Daryl groaned. "I ain't as young as you. Gimme a minute to catch my breath."

Beth giggled and rolled off of him. She snuggled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. The rain was still pouring outside, and thunder crashed around the cabin. Beth couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She couldn't remember a time in her life that she had _ever _felt this happy.

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><p><strong>I hope this scene satisfied your lust for smut! There will be more scenes like this as the story progresses, so please review and let me know what you think! ;)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**This is a short chapter. I just wanted to explore how each character is feeling after their "interaction" in the last chapter. Sorry it's not as long as usual!**

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><p>Sunlight spilled into the room through a gap in the bedroom curtains, and Daryl's eyes fluttered open and immediately landed on a pair of wide blue eyes staring directly at him. Beth's face broke into a wide smile.<p>

"Morning," she greeted him warmly.

Daryl blinked and noticed that both of them were still completely naked, and memories from the night before came rushing back to him. He self-consciously tugged the blanket up further on his body to cover more of his bare chest, and Beth arched an eyebrow at him.

"After everything that happened last night, you're seriously concerned about covering up?"

Daryl cleared his throat and shrugged one shoulder. His eyes drifted down to Beth's small bare breasts, which she was making no effort to hide. The early morning light made them look even more perfect than they had been in the darkness of the night before, and he had to make a serious effort to tear his eyes away from her chest. The sex the night before had been the best he had had in years, perhaps even the best sex he had ever had. He knew Beth had enjoyed herself, she had made that much clear, but he still couldn't stop the nagging guilty thoughts from surfacing in the back of his mind. He found himself torn between being disappointed in himself for defiling her in such a way and wanting to do it all over again.

"Beth, about last night . . ." he began.

"You don't regret it, do you?" Beth quickly asked, her happy expression turning into a frown. "Because I don't. Not at all. And you shouldn't either."

"I dunno," Daryl muttered, not meeting her eyes. "I lost control. I know you said you liked it, but—"

"But nothing. Daryl, last night was the best night of my life. And I'm not exaggerating. Please don't take that away from me."

Daryl eyed her skeptically, but her large blue eyes were full of nothing but honesty.

"This is really what you want?" he asked her quietly. "You really want this with me?"

"Yes. Absolutely. You're pretty stupid if you haven't already figured that out," she teased, giving him a playful nudge. Daryl couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his lips. "Nothing we did last night was wrong. And you better shake off any thoughts that are telling you otherwise, because I'm going to want to be intimate with you as much as possible."

Daryl's grin grew wider and he shook his head. "You're crazy."

Beth grinned and sat up, the blanket falling to her waist and exposing her breasts more to him. Her blonde hair was down and untamed, and the way her smile lit up her big blue eyes made Daryl's chest feel tight. She leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his lips. Daryl reached up and tangled his fingers in her wild hair, returning the kiss with as much fervor as he dared. Memories from the night before were already prompting his body to react to the kiss. He tried not to think about how tight she had been and the sounds she had made as she reached her climax. And the sight of her touching herself that he had unwittingly walked in on . . . it was the sexiest thing Daryl had ever seen. Everything about Beth now seemed erotic and intoxicating.

Daryl reluctantly broke the kiss and stared into Beth's eyes, willing his body to calm down. She pulled away and sat back on her heels with a smile on her face. She looked as though she were glowing, and Daryl couldn't believe that he had been the cause of it. He didn't understand what Beth saw in him or why she seemed so happy. It was hard for him to believe that he deserved such a woman, but if he was what Beth wanted, he was going to try his hardest to do right by her.

Beth slipped out of the blankets and stood. She stretched, and Daryl had to force his eyes away from her lithe body if he had any hopes of calming his own body down. She went to the dresser and pulled out some clothes.

"I'm gonna shower," she said. "Then I'm thinkin' we should have some canned peaches for breakfast."

Daryl smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan."

He watched her leave the room, his eyes traveling to her firm, round ass as she walked away. He groaned and threw his forearm over his eyes. It had already been hard enough not to constantly think about Beth in inappropriate ways before, and now that he had had a taste of her, he feared that his mind would torture him constantly with images of her writhing beneath him as he thrust into her. He heaved a sigh and tried to focus on anything other than Beth to gain self-control.

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><p>Beth couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she climbed into the cold shower. She had meant it when she told Daryl that the night before had been the best night of her life. It most definitely had been. And it wasn't just the mind-blowing pleasure Daryl had been able to give her that made the night so special for her. It was also the intimacy, the closeness she had felt with him. She had only shared her body in such a way with one other person, and with Zach it had been nowhere near as intimate as it had been with Daryl. Beth had liked Zach, but her feelings for him hadn't even come close to her feelings for Daryl. Giving herself to Daryl had felt right and so natural. She was elated that he hadn't pushed her away again.<p>

Feeling Daryl's walls come tumbling down as he gave in to their mutual desires was a big step for him, and Beth appreciated how difficult it had been for him. She could see in his eyes this morning that he was starting to feel guilty, and she had tried her hardest to make him dismiss those thoughts. She knew she couldn't change his destructive thinking patterns overnight, but she wasn't going to give up. There was no going back from where there relationship was now, and Beth wasn't about to let him rebuild the walls she had worked so hard to bring down.

As Beth washed, she smiled to herself as she felt the soreness between her legs. Daryl was definitely bigger than Zach had been, especially in the girth department. She wondered if that was why Daryl had been able to give her her first internal orgasm, or if it was because he just had more experience than Zach. It was probably a combination of both, but either way, Beth's idea of what good sex was had been entirely changed. She liked that she was sore, as it was a reminder of the amazing pleasure that had occurred the night before.

Beth finished her shower and quickly dressed. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and went out to find the cabin empty. She went outside and saw Daryl dragging a walker corpse over to where three other corpses were piled. She frowned and quickly scanned the area for further threats, thankfully seeing none. Daryl dumped the last corpse with the others and made his way through the gap in the spikes and up to where Beth stood on the porch.

"All four of 'em were skewered near the back of the cabin," he said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Not sure if it was the storm that riled 'em up or if it was your moanin' that attracted 'em."

Beth's cheeks flushed and her eyes widened. "Oh god, I didn't even think of that!"

"Yeah, you might wanna work on being quieter next time," Daryl teased her.

Beth grinned at his use of words. _Next time. _So he was already thinking about sleeping with her again. That was a good sign. She followed him back inside the cabin and sat down on one of the living room couches while he retrieved a jar of peaches and two forks. He sat down next to her on the couch and handed her a fork. They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments before Daryl cleared his throat and spoke.

"Since we're gonna be stayin' here for winter, we should start preparing more," he said.

"Preparing how?"

"I wanna start dryin' meat, in case game gets scarce when the weather turns, for one. Dried meat ain't tasty, but it's good to have on hand just in case. We should also start makin' more runs to nearby towns. Get as much supplies as we can. If we get any snow, we're stuck here till it melts. I ain't big on the idea of tryin' to make runs on foot."

Beth nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's head to Hogansville tomorrow then. We should make a list today of everything we'd like to find."

"Yeah. Today I'll show you how to fix up a tripod out of sticks to dry meat. We'll get a couple of those made and start dryin' stuff as soon as I can catch it."

Beth nodded again and ate a few more peaches. Starting preparations for winter made it seem all the more real that they were staying at the cabin for a while. It made Beth feel safe and happy. Spending the winter holed up in the cabin with Daryl seemed like a fairy tale to Beth. She guiltily remembered their lost group and found herself wondering where they would be spending the winter. She hoped everyone had found some semblance of permanence and safety like she had Daryl had. She hoped they weren't going to have to spend this coming winter like the last one had been: running from place to place, constantly scavenging, always on the move. She still wanted to find them someday, but the more time that went by when it was just her and Daryl, the less she began to prioritize finding the group. Beth wondered if that made her selfish, but at the current moment, she didn't really care. She was happier than she had been in a very long time, and she was going to enjoy it.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry this chapter was so short! The next chapter will be back to regular length, and it will contain more yummy Bethyl smut. ;) <strong>

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I have to admit that I was writing this chapter while I was supposed to be working today, but I was having too much fun writing it to focus on my work! Oops!**

**Now, here's some more smut to start this chapter off right . . . Enjoy! ;)**

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><p>Beth was restless in her sleep as Daryl watched her. The early morning light was still dim, but the sky was beginning to lighten, and he could see her eyes fluttering beneath their lids as she dreamed. Her expression began to form into a slight frown, and Daryl wondered what she was dreaming about. A small moan escaped her lips, soon followed by another, and Daryl got his answer. He felt himself immediately growing hard at the thought of Beth having a sex dream and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself down. As much as he wanted to pull down her panties and thrust himself inside her from behind, the idea of fucking her while she was sleeping seemed a little creepy.<p>

Things had started heating up the night before as they had laid down for bed, but Daryl had stopped things when Beth had given a small hiss of pain as he slid two fingers inside her. She admitted to being sore from their first encounter, which Daryl couldn't help immediately feeling guilty for. Regardless of how much Beth had insisted she was fine and still wanted to be intimate with him, he couldn't bring himself to do it when he knew it would hurt her, even if the pain wouldn't last. He cursed himself for being so stupid. Beth had only had sex with Zach a few times, how could he have been so rough with her? He felt that he had been so selfish taking his pleasure from her without regard for her lack of experience. But Beth had sternly reminded him that he had given her the first internal orgasm she had ever experienced, and to her, that had been worth a little soreness the next day. Daryl had tried his best to let his guilt about the matter go, but he still hadn't been able to bring himself to have sex with her.

Now, however, Daryl was struggling with his resolve. He wondered if Beth was still feeling sore, or if she would object to him touching her right now. She gave another whimper in her sleep and Daryl almost groaned aloud. The sounds she was making were driving him crazy. Her brow was furrowed in frustration, and Daryl couldn't help himself. He tentatively ran a hand along the smooth skin of her inner thigh, and Beth gave a shuddering breath in her sleep. Daryl brushed his fingertips against the fabric of her panties, exhaling slowly when he felt her wetness seeping through them. His touch traveled up her abdomen and under her sleep flannel, and he slipped his hand under the waistband of her panties, running his fingertips down her sex and along her incredibly slick opening. He began rubbing gentle circles on her clit, watching her frustrated expression ease into one of relaxation and bliss. She moaned again in her sleep, and Daryl increased the pace and pressure of his fingers. He could feel that she was growing wetter, if that was even possible, and his erection was straining against the confines of his pants. Suddenly Beth's eyes fluttered open, and Daryl stilled his hand, but didn't remove it from her panties.

"D'you want me to stop?" he asked, his voice low and rough.

Beth shook her head furiously, and Daryl quickly slid her panties down her legs and tossed them to the floor. Beth spread her legs for him and forced his lips to hers as his touch found her center again, picking up where he had left off. She was already close; Daryl could feel her legs trembling. Her fingers clutched the front of his shirt, her grip growing tighter as she got closer to her peak. It wasn't long before she was shuddering beneath him as her orgasm took hold of her body.

Daryl let her ride out her orgasm before slowly sliding his middle finger inside her, his gaze focused on her face for any signs of discomfort. When she didn't wince, he added a second finger and slowly moved them in and out. He was amazed by how wet she was; he had never known a woman who had gotten as wet as Beth did.

Her hands had found their way under his shirt and were raising it up his chest, and he allowed her to pull the shirt over his head. Her attentions then went to unfastening his pants, and she tugged them down enough to free his almost painful erection. He closed his eyes as her small hand took hold of him and slowly pumped him up and down. He continued to move his fingers inside her, hooking them toward her stomach with each stroke.

"I need you," Beth murmured as she gave his cock a squeeze.

Daryl withdrew his fingers from her and looked down at her.

"You still sore?"

Beth shook her head with an eager smile, and Daryl grinned back at her. He ran his hands under her flannel and lifted it over her head, leaving her completely naked before him. He kicked his pants off all the way and positioned himself between her legs.

"Wait," she said suddenly. Daryl frowned in confusion as she reached to the bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out a box of condoms. Daryl arched an eyebrow at her.

"Where'd those come from?"

"I got them in the pharmacy in Greenville," Beth explained.

"You mischievous little minx," Daryl smirked at her. "You were plannin' to seduce me all along!"

Beth giggled and blushed a bit. "You caught me," she grinned, tearing off one of the condoms and handing the small packet to him.

Daryl shook his head at her in amused disbelief. He tore open the packet with his teeth and rolled the condom down over his still-erect shaft. He kissed Beth deeply before breaking away and holding her gaze, searching for signs of any discomfort as he slowly pushed inside her. She was just as tight as she'd been the first time, but her expression showed no signs of pain. Daryl slowly began to move, maintaining eye contact with her with each thrust. He focused hard on maintaining self-control; he wanted to take his time with her, rather than fucking her hard and fast as he'd done the first time. He kept his movements slow and deliberate, and Beth's eyes fluttered closed as the pleasure gradually began to build. Daryl felt as though each thrust into her was deeper than the one before, and he wanted to feel all of her, wanted to fill her completely and make her his and only his.

He reached his arms around Beth's back and pulled her up so that he was sitting with her straddling his lap. The new angle allowed him to penetrate her even deeper still, and Beth cried out as he hit the spot that had made her climax so hard the first time. Daryl held her as close as he could as he continued to grind into her. The friction of their bodies rubbed against her clit, and Daryl could tell from the sounds Beth was making that she was getting close.

"Look at me," Daryl ordered. Her eyes fluttered open and he was struck by how much they had darkened in her state of arousal. In the light of the morning he could see how wide her pupils had become with desire, and the sight turned him on even more. He thrust into her harder, and soon her eyes were squeezing shut again as her tight walls clenched around his cock as her orgasm hit her. She cried out his name as she came, and Daryl quickened his pace a little. He buried his cock as deep as he could within her as he reached his own climax soon after.

They stayed where they were for several long moments, holding each other tightly and him still inside her as they attempted to catch their breath. Finally Daryl pulled back from the embrace and kissed her tenderly before disentangling himself from her limbs. He pulled off the condom and quickly tied it off. He stood from the bed and went to toss the used condom in the small trashcan in the corner. He suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him and turned to see Beth staring at him wide-eyed.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Your back . . ." Beth trailed off, looking unsure of how to react.

Daryl sighed. He hadn't even thought about Beth seeing his scars. It wasn't as though their existence was a secret, but this was the first time he had had his bare back to her in the light of day. Before the turn, Daryl usually tried to keep the scars hidden from the women he hooked up with, which usually wasn't difficult since he never stuck around afterward. It wasn't that he was afraid of people knowing about them, but more that he despised the reactions he got when people saw them. Daryl had never wanted anyone's pity, and that's all that he saw on the faces of those who had seen the scars. He could see pity and sadness in Beth's eyes now, but strangely, he didn't feel angry about it like he usually did. Beth was different than anyone Daryl had ever known, and she already knew more about his life before the turn than anyone. Opening up about his past was difficult, but Beth made it easier.

He made his way back to the bed and sat on the edge with his back to her so that she could get a better look at his ruined skin.

"Dad was fond of the belt," he muttered, looking down at his hands. He felt Beth's small, delicate fingers tentatively touching one of the ugly purple scars, and surprisingly he didn't flinch at her touch.

"How could someone do this?" Beth murmured, her tone sounding heartbroken.

Daryl shrugged and turned his head so that he could see her.

"It was worse when he was drunk, which was a lot," he said. "His life was shit and he took it out on Merle and me. When Merle left, then it was just me and him, and things got pretty bad for a while. Sometimes I didn't know if he'd stop or if he'd end up beating me to death. He quit once I got old enough to fight back. Think he realized I could've killed him if I wanted, and I mighta if he'd kept up with it. Instead I just moved out to live with Merle and left him to rot by himself."

Beth looked as though she were about to cry, and Daryl sighed.

"Don't want you feelin' sorry for me," he said. "Besides, it's in the past now. I survived."

"No one should have to go through that," Beth said, shaking her head.

Daryl shrugged again. "Yeah, but people do. It sucks but that's life for some of us. And I'm startin' to let it go. Thanks to you."

"Thanks to me?"

"You told me I gotta stay who I am, not who I was. I'm tryin' to do that and not to think about the shitty stuff that happened a long time ago," Daryl said, starting to feel a little embarrassed. "I don't think you realize how much burnin' down that moonshine shack helped me."

Beth beamed at him, and Daryl felt his heart swell at the sight. Beth scooted closer to him and pressed her bare chest against his scarred back in a tight embrace. It reminded him of the hug she had given him outside the moonshine shack all those weeks ago. He exhaled a deep breath and clutched her arms that circled him. Beth was helping him to overcome so much; she really was his light and his world. He couldn't believe how much her beautiful positivity had helped him to grow in recent weeks, and he took comfort in the way her small arms wrapped around him and held him close.

After a few minutes, Daryl cleared his throat and Beth released him from her embrace. He turned to face her and gave her a partial smile.

"We better get up and get dressed if we're still gonna head to Hogansville today," he said, and Beth nodded in agreement. She stood from the bed and made her way to the dresser to grab some clothes, and Daryl began dressing himself.

"Do you wanna try to go through any other towns today?" Beth asked. "If I remember the map correctly, I think Luthersville is on the way. It's about the same size as Greenville though, so we may not find much there."

"Might as well check it out if it's on the way," Daryl shrugged. "Let's make Hogansville our priority and if we have time we can check out Luthersville on the way back."

"Okay," Beth agreed. She had pulled on a pair of jeans and a simple fitted black T-shirt and was quickly tying her hair up in a ponytail. Daryl watched her as she moved about, and even though the clothes she wore weren't anything special and her hair was messy, she was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. He could still hardly believe that she wanted him. She caught him staring as she moved to leave the room and arched an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Nothin," Daryl said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You're beautiful, that's all."

Beth gave a little scoff, but she was smiling. Daryl followed her out of the room and began gathering the things they would need for the run. Once they were ready, they made their way outside and to the truck. Beth climbed in the passenger seat and pulled out the map to navigate, and Daryl hotwired the truck to life before climbing in next to her.

As they began to drive down the dirt road, Daryl couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. The morning had already turned out so well, and he was confident that they were going to have a successful, good day. He was determined that nothing would bring him down today.

"Hogansville, here we come," he said as he turned onto the paved road, and Beth grinned at him in return.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and please review! :)<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**I can't believe we're up to chapter 12 already! Thank you to everyone who continues to read and support this story!**

**There is more smut in this chapter. I've been feeling extra smutty lately. Enjoy!**

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><p>Beth was flooded with memories as they drove into the city limits of Hogansville. The last time she had been here, she had been fourteen years old and she had been attending the Hogansville Hummingbird Festival. She remembered the rides, vendors, and live music that had filled the streets of downtown Hogansville that weekend. She also recalled that she and her friend had not-so-stealthily followed around a boy she had been crushing on, and how she had made up some lame excuse when he had turned around and accused them of stalking him all afternoon. As she stole a glance at the gorgeous man next to her, she was struck by how much things had changed in the past five years. Rather than giggling about a crush and imagining what it would be like to hold his hand, she was now sleeping with a grown man who gave her such intense orgasms she hadn't even thought were possible. She smirked a little at the thought.<p>

Daryl pulled into the parking lot of a small strip mall that contained a Piggly Wiggly and a Family Dollar store. He killed the engine and waited a moment before exiting the truck. The parking lot, aside from some long-abandoned cars, seemed deserted, and he gave Beth a nod before exiting the truck with Beth following behind him. They made their way up to the Piggly Wiggly first. Daryl knocked loudly on the front window and waited. Soon after, several decaying bodies had pressed themselves against the glass. Daryl narrowed his eyes as he watched more of them slumping against the glass. There appeared to be at least ten of them, and Daryl sighed.

"Not worth it," he muttered, jerking his head toward the Family Dollar store. "Maybe there'll be less of 'em in here."

Beth followed behind him while Daryl repeated their usual tactic of knocking and waiting. This time, only three walkers made themselves known. Daryl shared a glance with Beth, who nodded. She flipped open her Swiss army knife and pulled open the door, and Daryl took down the first walker with his crossbow. Beth lunged forward at another biter and thrust her blade through its skull. As she tugged the blade free, she saw that Daryl had already put down the third walker and was retrieving his arrow from the first. He loaded his bow and went into the store first with his crossbow aimed and ready.

After whistling a few times and drawing no more walkers, he lowered the bow and looked around. The place had been looted already once or twice, but there was still a decent amount of merchandise on the shelves. He grabbed a few plastic bags from the check-out lane and handed some of them to Beth. The pair of them quickly ransacked the store, taking anything from cleaning products to toiletries to batteries to cold medicine. Beth also managed to find more laundry soap, which she was especially excited about. They exited the store and dumped their loot in the truck bed, and Beth glanced over to the Piggly Wiggly where the dead were still pawing at the glass trying to get out.

"We better go before they break the glass," she sighed, and Daryl nodded in agreement. They jumped in the truck and continued down the road they had come into town on, and they soon came to an intersection with a Ride Aid on the corner. Daryl pulled into the parking lot and they repeated their routine, this time surprised to find no dead waiting inside.

Beth took one side of the store and Daryl took the other, both of them taking necessities and luxury items alike. As Beth made her way toward the center of the store, she noticed Daryl in the family planning aisle shoving more boxes of condoms into a bag. She giggled and he looked up at her with a sheepish grin.

"What? Just wanna be prepared," he said defensively, and Beth laughed again.

"Fine by me. I'm flattered that you think we'll need all those."

Daryl's neck and ears flushed red, and Beth smirked in satisfaction from making him blush. Suddenly an idea struck her, and she made her way back to the actual pharmacy and hopped over the counter.

"What're you lookin' for back there?" Daryl called to her.

Beth didn't answer, and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. She stared at the stack of Plan B pills before grabbing several of the boxes and shoving them into a bag. Daryl suddenly appeared next to her and frowned as he picked up one of the boxes.

"Emergency contraceptive?" he asked as he read the box.

"Just in case," Beth shrugged. "A friend of mine took it once when she and her boyfriend forgot to use a condom . . . it made her feel kinda shitty for a day or two, but it prevents pregnancy if you take it within 72 hours."

Daryl had an odd expression on his face.

"What?"

"We didn't use a condom the first time," he muttered. "So stupid. I didn't even think . . . we gotta be more careful. Gettin' pregnant is practically a death sentence nowadays. Can't believe I didn't—"

"Daryl, relax. You didn't even know I had the condoms the first time. And that's why I'm taking these. Just in case we get caught up in the moment or whatever. It's a backup plan. That's why they call it Plan B."

Daryl nodded. "Okay. But seriously, we gotta try to remember to use a condom every time."

"I agree. But it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

Daryl nodded, his expression still looking strained. Beth slid back over the counter with her bags in hand, and Daryl followed, grabbing the full bags he had set down on the other side of the counter. They made their way out of the store and tossed the bags in back. Daryl started the truck and turned down the street that led into downtown. There were a few walkers shambling about, but nothing they wouldn't be able to handle. He parked the truck near an old, quaint-looking hotel called the Grand Hotel.

"Let's be quick about this," he said as they climbed out of the truck. "It looks safe now, but that could change."

Beth nodded, and the pair of them began systematically exploring the shops of note on the main street. They grabbed some more first aid supplies from a mom-and-pop pharmacy, and Beth managed to convince Daryl to loot a dry cleaners store so that he had something that would fit him better whenever she washed his one set of clothing. Unfortunately, most of the shops in downtown Hogansville were antique stores, which offered nothing of use for them. They soon returned to the truck with a few things, but nothing like they were hoping for.

"Wanna head to Luthersville now?" Daryl asked as he started the truck and began to drive down the main street. "That sign says it's 15 miles away."

"Library!" Beth said suddenly. "We can't leave until we go to the library."

Daryl rolled his eyes at Beth's fervent need to visit the library, but she did have a point. Not only would they have more entertainment, despite Daryl's disdain for reading, but they would also be able to acquire resources to learn more about edible plants in their region and other survival techniques.

"Any idea where this library is?" Daryl asked.

Beth shrugged. "No idea. But it's probably somewhere around here. It's gotta be close to downtown, right?"

"Why are you askin' me? I ain't set foot in a library since I dropped outta school."

Beth gave him a look. "Just keep driving. We'll find it."

It didn't take long at all to locate the library. It was only a few blocks from downtown, as Beth had expected it would be. Daryl pulled into a parking spot out front and eyed the single-story building warily. The library was small with a quaint little gazebo porch out front, but he was wary of potential dangers within.

"You know how many biters could be hidin' in the bookshelves outta sight?"

"Same as the aisles in the stores we just looted," Beth sighed. "We'll just knock on the door like we usually do and see what comes out."

She opened the passenger door and hopped out before Daryl could argue further. He followed her up the steps and to the white double doors at the front of the library. He wished the doors had windows so they could see how many dead were inside, but that wasn't the case. Daryl sighed and banged heavily on the doors. After waiting several moments, he heard two distinct thuds as bodies pressed themselves against the doors. He listened carefully, but he couldn't detect more walkers than the two that were throwing themselves against the barrier between them. He gave Beth a nod and she quickly wrenched the door open. The two ghouls that had been pressed up against it came toppling out, and Beth and Daryl each dispatched one with their knives.

The lighting in the library was dim, as the windows that circled the building were narrow and high up on the walls. Daryl banged loudly on the doorframe, but no other ghouls came toward the sound. He carefully entered the shadowed library with his crossbow drawn, closing the door behind them when he was sure that no more dead were inside.

"How do we find what we're lookin' for?" he asked. "There's tons of books in this place."

"If the world had gone to shit twenty years ago, I bet the card catalog would still be a hard copy," Beth sighed. "But now, I bet it was in the computer system. We'll just have to search stuff out."

She made her way into the library and pointed to a section of shelving.

"That's nonfiction. You look there. Look for anything related to survival or wilderness."

"What're you gonna look for?"

"Entertainment," Beth grinned. Daryl rolled his eyes and walked over to the section she had pointed out to him, and Beth made her way to the fiction section. She started with the A's, grabbing several classics by Jane Austen that she already knew she liked. She then made her way to the R's and grabbed several of Anne Rice's vampire chronicles. Maggie had read them before the turn, but she had always insisted Beth was too young to read them. She secretly couldn't wait to find out what exactly had made Maggie believe she had been too immature to read the novels. She carried her large stack of books over to the door and set them down before going to find Daryl.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Yeah, a couple of books about plants," Daryl nodded his head toward a small stack on the ground. "Lookin' for other stuff, but haven't found much yet."

Beth watched him reading the spines of the books before him, and she felt a throbbing between her legs as she realized how sexy he looked in the dim lighting with his face furrowed in concentration as he read. The shadows made him look sultry and mysterious. She bit her lip and leaned against the bookshelf behind her, and Daryl frowned at her.

"You ain't gonna help me look?"

An idea dawned on her suddenly, and she tried to hold back a mischievous smile. Daryl arched an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"What're you smirkin' at?"

"Ever had sex in a library before?" she asked.

Daryl chuckled and shook his head. "You serious?"

Beth sauntered closer to him and hooked her fingers through his belt loops, pulling his body against hers and grinding against him slightly.

"What do you think?"

Daryl's eyes began to darken, and he laced his fingers through her hair and took hold of her ponytail, giving it a firm jerk to angle her face toward his. Beth gasped and pressed herself harder against him. Daryl's pupils were dilated, and the predatory look he was giving her was making her wet.

"You're naughty," Daryl smirked down at her, his voice low.

"I know what I want," Beth replied breathlessly.

"You gonna be able to keep quiet if I give you what you want?" Daryl asked. "Your moans could get us into trouble out here."

Beth smirked at him. "We're in a library, Daryl. Being loud is against the rules."

Daryl laughed quietly, the sound vibrating in his chest that was pressed against hers.

"You better follow the rules then," he murmured, and brought his lips to hers in a hard kiss. Beth returned the kiss with equal passion, unable to contain a small moan when his tongue entered her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Daryl removed his grasp from her hair and ran his hands down her body. He gave her ass a firm squeeze before sliding his hands beneath it and hoisting her up. Beth wrapped her legs around him and Daryl pushed her back against the bookshelf behind her, pinning her there with his hips. She could feel that he was already hard, which just made her want him more. She ground her lower body into his and cursed the layers of clothing that separated them. She removed one hand from around his neck and went to unfasten his pants. Daryl broke away from her lips and stilled her wandering hand.

"Hold that thought," he muttered, setting her back down on the floor.

"Huh?" Beth questioned in confusion as Daryl hurried away toward the door.

"Condom," he grunted as he opened the door and ran outside.

Beth giggled to herself, thankful he had be sensible enough to go grab a condom from the many they had stashed in the truck. While she waited for him to return, she quickly made her way over to one of the reading tables in the center of the library and tugged her jeans down her legs, kicking them to the side. She hopped up on the tabletop and laid back on her elbows. Daryl came running back inside moments later, closing and locking the door behind him. He spotted her lounging on the reading table and approached her slowly, looking at her as though he was stalking his prey.

Daryl ran his calloused hands along Beth's smooth, pale legs as he reached her. She bit her lip and watched him from under her lashes, feeling more aroused by the second. He pulled aside her panties and ran his fingers along her slit, and he slowly pushed a finger inside her with ease. Beth's breathing quickened, and Daryl added a second finger.

"You're so fuckin' wet," he growled.

His low voice made Beth even more impatient to have him, and she hurriedly made quick work of unfastening his pants. She seized his erection and gave him a firm squeeze.

"Fuck me, please," she whimpered.

Daryl wasted no time in pulling the condom he had retrieved out of his pocket. He tore open the packet and slid the condom over his shaft while Beth quickly discarded her panties. Daryl roughly tugged Beth's hips toward him on the table, bringing her center to the edge. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let out a moan as he slid inside her.

"Shh," Daryl hushed her, pressing a finger to her lips. "You said you'd be quiet."

Beth grinned and bit her lip. Being quiet was going to be harder than she thought. Her breath caught in her throat as Daryl withdrew and thrust into her again, and she pressed her hands over her mouth to muffle herself. He began a slow, but forceful, rhythm, each thrust hitting a sweet spot deep inside her. The way she was sprawled across the table gave him a full view of her lithe young body. He reached down to her center and began rubbing her clit with his thumb while he continued to thrust into her. She let out a whimper as she felt the added pleasure and grew even wetter, and Daryl began to move faster, his thrusts still hard and deep. The sight of her trying to keep herself quiet as he fucked and played with her was almost too much for him, and he suddenly withdrew from her and roughly tugged her off the table. He flipped her around and pushed her front against the tabletop. Beth arched her back to give him better access, and he quickly sheathed himself inside her again.

Daryl didn't know how it was possible for her to feel even tighter, but fucking her from behind definitely made it feel that way for him. He knew he wouldn't last much longer, and he wet his fingers with his saliva and reached an arm around her and found her clit again. Beth couldn't contain her moan of pleasure as Daryl's slick fingers furiously rubbed her clit. She arched her back further, allowing Daryl to penetrate her even deeper still. He pounded into her mercilessly, and Beth was soon on the brink of orgasm. Daryl could tell she was close, and he knew he would soon reach his own climax.

"Cum for me, girl," he demanded gruffly.

Hearing him speak that way was all Beth needed. After a few more thrusts, she reached her peak and came hard, her vision going spotty as she did. The feeling of her muscles clamping around his cock sent Daryl over the edge as well, and he let out a primal groan as he reached his climax.

Daryl leaned over her body on the table, his spent cock still inside her, for several moments as he caught his breath. Finally he pulled out of her, leaving Beth feeling empty. She turned around on the table and stumbled a bit, and Daryl caught her.

"That was so good that I'm dizzy," Beth giggled.

Daryl laughed and shook his head. He couldn't believe that this gorgeous, sexy young woman wanted him, and that she enjoyed being intimate with him so much. As she put her panties and jeans back on, Daryl disposed of the condom in a nearby trashcan and went back to the section he had been searching before Beth had distracted his attentions elsewhere. She appeared beside him and knelt down to continue looking, acting as though everything were perfectly normal and as though they hadn't just fucked shamelessly on a reading table. Daryl reached over and pulled her to him, causing her to topple into his chest with a surprised yelp. He pressed a deep kiss to her lips before releasing her from his grasp. She smiled at him, and Daryl found her smile contagious. They turned their attention back to the books in front of them, both of them grinning helplessly as they did.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and please review! :)<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm sorry I haven't been able to update the past few days! Work is still insane and I've been very busy. Please forgive me for the delay. **

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><p>Luthersville seemed even smaller than Greenville had been as they drove into the town's city limits. They hadn't expected to find much in the tiny town, but it was starting to look as though they would be lucky to find anything useful at all as Daryl entered the limited downtown area.<p>

"How does a town this small need two hair salons?" Daryl muttered as he made a three-point turn to go back the way they'd come after seeing nothing useful on the downtown street.

Beth laughed a little and examined the storefronts downtown. Antique stores, a liquor store, a packaging supply store, hair salons . . . nothing useful. Daryl turned down Main Street and hummed in discovery as he pulled into the parking lot of a small hardware and auto parts store.

"Looking for anything particular?" Beth asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Was just gonna see if there's anything we can use. See if inspiration strikes."

He exited the truck and Beth followed, wincing just slightly as she stood. She was a little bit sore from her and Daryl's two sexual encounters that day, but she didn't mind. She smirked to herself as she recalled how hot the sex in the library had been. She remembered how sexy Daryl's low voice had sounded when he had told her to cum for him, and once again, she throbbed between her legs at the thought. She took care not to allow Daryl to notice that she was feeling sore, because despite the soreness, she knew she would want him again later, and she didn't want him to have any reservations about giving her what she wanted. He was turning her into some sort of nymphomaniac. Not that she minded. Beth had never experienced anything like it, and to her, the changes she was experiencing were nothing short of amazing.

Daryl cleared his throat, and Beth realized she'd been staring at him while lost in thought. She blushed and hurried to the door for their usual routine. Daryl knocked on the glass door loudly, and when nothing moved inside the store, Beth pulled the door open, allowing Daryl to enter first with his crossbow raised. They could hear the moans of a walker somewhere in the store, but since the sounds weren't coming any closer, they assumed the ghoul was stuck somewhere. Daryl whistled loudly, but the sound only further riled up the one biter they could hear. No other dead made themselves known.

Daryl crept toward the sound of the walker with Beth on his heels. They turned down an aisle and spotted the source of the sound. The walker was tangled in a heavy spool of barbed wire that had fallen from the shelves. Its rotting arms reached for Daryl and Beth, and due to its level of decomposition, they could tell that it had been stuck there for quite some time. Daryl quickly strode over to it and ended its second life with his hunting knife, leaving the store quiet. He stared down at the tangled up corpse in thought.

"What?" Beth asked, noticing his pensive expression.

"We should take this wire," he muttered. "See how the barbs got it stuck? We could use it to reinforce the cabin a little better. Maybe make a barbed wire fence to go behind the spikes as a second defense."

"Good idea," Beth agreed.

Daryl knelt down and began attempting to disentangle the walker's corpse from the wire, and Beth winced as the barbs tore chunks of decaying flesh as he pulled the wire free. Daryl heaved the heavy spool upright and off of the walker's body. He wasn't sure how much barbed wire they would need to make an adequate fence, but he fully intended on taking the entire spool. He attempted to lift it, but felt his muscles strain as he did so.

"Help me with this," he grunted to Beth, who was standing idly nearby. She grimaced at the bloody mess covering one side of the spool.

"You're not gonna clean that off?" she asked.

"No," he sighed impatiently. "Besides, maybe it's good to have that shit on there. Walker guts are like camouflage."

Beth shuddered, and Daryl rolled his eyes. "Here, you take the clean side. I'll hold the bloody side."

She nodded gratefully and went to where Daryl had been attempting to lift the spool. She got a good grip and hoisted the heavy spool in unison with Daryl. The two of them shuffled toward the door, where they had to put the spool down momentarily to open it, and then out to the truck where they stashed it in the far back of the truck bed. Beth quickly reorganized the rest of their loot in the truck so that the bags of goodies wouldn't get caught in the bloody barbed wire. She went back inside the store where Daryl was already pulling things from the shelves. He had a shovel in one hand and was throwing boxes of nails into a plastic bag looped around his wrist.

"They've got some lumber in the back," Daryl said. "We can board up most of the windows in the cabin so the light doesn't attract walkers. I know that don't sound too homey, but it'll be safer since we'll be stayin' there a while."

Beth nodded and couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face at the thought of staying at the cabin all winter. She wandered down one of the aisles and examined a selection of tools. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a small selection of hammers that had baby pink handles and she quickly grabbed one from the shelf.

"Tomboy Tools," she read from the label as her grin grew wider. The pink hammers were made for women, and according to the label, the company had donated a percentage of their profits to domestic violent prevention and breast cancer research before the world had gone to hell. The handle of the hammer fit perfectly in her small hand, and the weight felt well-proportioned as she gave it a few test swings.

"Whatcha got there?" Daryl's asked as he rounded the corner.

"A pink hammer!" Beth exclaimed a little too excitedly, and Daryl laughed at her.

"Looks like it was made for you," he said.

"That's because it was!" Beth grinned. "Well, not for me specifically, but for women. I love it!"

Daryl shook his head at her in amusement as she tore off the label and slid the handle through her belt loop, hooking the hammer in place. Her smile was contagious and he couldn't help grinning as they continued to peruse the aisles for anything of note. Beth found joy in the smallest things, and he loved that about her. The fact that a simple pink hammer could make her so excited was endearing.

It didn't take them long to finish looting the hardware store. They soon had supplies to board up the cabin and build the barbed wire fence, which made both of them feel safer for the months to come. Once the truck was loaded up with their supplies, Daryl began walking toward the convenience store and gas station next door to see if there was any food left inside. He heard no noises inside when he knocked loudly on the door, and the store proved to be empty when they went inside. Most of the food had already been taken, but they managed to find a few bags of chips and crackers, some packages of ramen noodles, and a few cans of soup. Daryl also managed to snag a few packs of cigarettes, which he was quite happy about.

"Let's check out the Valero station across the street and then head out," Daryl suggested as they put the remaining supplies in the truck.

"Do you wanna check out any other towns today?" Beth asked. "I think I saw on the map that a town called Moreland is about five miles north of here. It's even smaller than this though, so it might not even be worth it."

Daryl squinted up at the position of the sun as they walked across the street and shrugged.

"We're losing daylight," he said. "It's probably mid-afternoon now. I think we've done enough for today. Wanna head back soon in case we get car trouble and have to walk the rest of the way or somethin."

Beth nodded in agreement. She definitely didn't want to be walking around after dark if something were to happen to the truck. The truck was old, and there was no telling if or when it would have some kind of mechanical trouble. She didn't like thinking about it, but it was a definite possibility.

As they made their way into the gas station parking lot, Daryl slowed and nudged Beth, pointing to a body on the ground near the side of the building.

"Walker?" Beth wondered, and Daryl shrugged.

"Dunno. Just be alert."

Beth's hand touched the smooth head of her new pink hammer, and she tugged it out of her belt loop. As morbid at it was, she was actually eager to test it out on a walker.

"I'll go see," she said with a smile, getting a good grip on the hammer. She loved the way the handle seemed to fit perfectly in her hand. Daryl gave her a small smile and watched her approach the body with the hammer raised cautiously. He frowned when her raised arm lowered, however, and she quickly shoved the hammer back in her belt loop.

"Daryl!" she called to him urgently, and he hurried over. Beth was crouched over the body she had presumed to be a walker, but the body was breathing. It was a teenage girl who was laying on her side in an almost fetal position, and she was completely nude, her body covered in grime. She looked as though she had been badly beaten as well. One of her eyes was swollen and black, and he could see severe bruises through the dirt on her body, particularly around her ribs and back. Daryl's blood ran cold as he noticed the dried blood on her inner thighs, suggesting that she had been brutally raped.

"We have to help her," Beth said desperately, and Daryl nodded. Beth moved toward the girl's head and lifted it gingerly into her lap. "Go get a water bottle from my backpack in the truck," Beth ordered, and Daryl quickly took off back across the street toward the truck. The girl gave a weak moan and attempted to open her eyes, only one of them meeting Beth's gaze as the other was swollen shut.

"You're okay now," Beth reassured her. "We're here to help you."

Daryl appeared next to her with the bottle of water, and the girl immediately gave a start and tried to shy away from him.

"He won't hurt you," Beth said as she took the water from Daryl. "Can you drink some of this?"

The girl tried to sit up, but cried out in pain and shook her head. Beth handed the bottle to Daryl and propped her head up a little, and he knelt down and delicately poured a little in the girl's mouth. She coughed at first, but then drank as much of it as she could.

"Thank you," the girl murmured, her voice very hoarse and almost too quiet to hear.

"How long have you been here?" Beth asked.

"I don't know," the girl replied weakly. She seemed to be growing more coherent, and suddenly her breathing became heavier and her open eye darted around in fear. "Those men, are they gone?"

"What men?" Daryl asked slowly, glancing around the town and searching for any sign of the men she spoke of.

"Oh god, what if they come back for me? They said . . . they said they were leaving me to die, but what if they're coming back?"

The girl was growing more panicked with fear, and Beth tried her best to calm her.

"There's no men, it's just us. We're good people. We won't hurt you, I promise."

Daryl was still watching the deserted town around them. It still appeared to be void of people, but the girl's utter panic over these men made him very uneasy. It was obvious that they had been the ones to do this to her, and he didn't want to be anywhere near them. He didn't even want to think about what could happen to Beth if this girl's attackers found her. It made him sick to imagine it. He wondered if the men who had hurt this girl so much had been the ones who had kidnapped Beth. The girl was young, much younger than Beth, but she looked like she had once been pretty. Daryl was filled with icy fear and nausea at the very thought of people harming her so brutally.

"Daryl, we have to take her back to the cabin," Beth's voice brought him out of his head. "We can't just leave her here."

He nodded. "I'll get the truck and pull it over here. We'll have to put her in the back."

Beth watched him run back across the street. He ducked back into the hardware store and emerged a few moments later with some moving blankets that he'd seen when they had looted the place, and he quickly made a softer place for the girl in the bed of the truck before starting it and driving it back across the street.

"We're going to get you out of here," Beth said to the scared girl in her lap. "We have somewhere safe outside of town. I'm Beth, and that's Daryl. You don't need to be scared of us. We're here to help."

The girl nodded feebly, and Beth stroked her hair soothingly as Daryl backed the truck up close to them and made his way back over to them.

"What's your name?" Beth asked her.

"Cara."

"Okay, Cara. We're going to lift you and put you in the back of the truck. We're taking you somewhere safe."

Daryl bent down next to them, his expression looking distraught.

"I'll put her in the truck," he said. "Don't think there's any chance of her being able to walk."

Beth chewed on her lip as she watched Daryl delicately slip his hands beneath the girl's battered body. She gave a wail of pain as he lifted her easily, and Beth winced at the sound. Daryl gently set her on top of the blankets in the truck bed and made sure she was as comfortable as she could be before closing the tailgate. He walked around the truck bed and gave the spool of barbed wire a little shake to make sure it was secure and wouldn't go sliding around the truck bed before nodding at Beth and climbing in the driver's seat.

"We'll be back at our cabin in about fifteen or twenty minutes," Beth told Cara, who gave a single nod, looking as though she were about to pass out again. "Just hang in there."

Beth climbed in the truck next to Daryl and he carefully drove out of the parking lot, taking care not to hit bumps too hard so that Cara wouldn't be jostled around. He was chewing on his thumbnail anxiously, and Beth felt just as upset as he looked. They drove in tense silence for a few minutes and the tiny town faded away into forest on either side of the small highway.

"I don't like this, Beth," Daryl said after a few minutes. "Whoever did this . . . they could still be nearby. We don't know how long she was there. It could have been days or hours. I don't like knowin' that someone who is capable of this kinda violence could be somewhere near here."

"I know," Beth said quietly. "And she's so young . . . she doesn't look any older than fifteen or sixteen."

Daryl started feeling sick again as he thought about the blood caked on the girl's thighs. Someone had raped her, probably many times, beat her, and left her to die. And that whoever had done it was too close to home.

"Her injuries are pretty bad," Daryl said. "Definitely has broken ribs. She can't even sit up. We can try to help her, but she might not make it if she's got internal bleeding. I just want you to be prepared for that."

Beth nodded solemnly. She hoped and prayed that they would be able to save her. No one deserved to die from such horrible causes. She looked out the window and tried to keep herself calm. They would do whatever they could to help Cara, and hopefully it would be enough.

Daryl couldn't keep his eyes from frequently darting to Beth as they drove. He hated that the peace and safety of their home had been called into question, despite the fact that nowhere was really safe anymore. He felt now more than ever that he had to protect Beth. He would die before letting her end up like Cara, and if it came down to it, he would. He would give his life in an instant if it meant keeping Beth safe. The future was more uncertain than ever, but one thing was clear: Daryl was going to protect Beth no matter what.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review! :)<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**I know some of you are not a fan of the new plot development with Cara, but realistically, it can't be all sunshine and rainbows in the ZA (as much as I would like it to be!). Don't worry too much, though. I won't put you through too much grief. :)**

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><p>Carrying Cara into the cabin proved to be somewhat difficult. Daryl had to lift her body high over the spikes to slide through the gap in them, which was difficult for him and painful for the girl. As soon as he carried her inside, he gently laid her on one of the couches in the living room while Beth hurried into the bedroom to get some clothes to cover her naked body. She returned with one of the oversized flannels that she liked to sleep in, thinking it would be the easiest thing for her to put on.<p>

"Can you grab some first aid supplies?" she asked Daryl as she draped the flannel over Cara's body as a temporary cover. "Once we clean her up, I'll get her dressed."

Daryl nodded and went into the bathroom to fetch the bag of first aid supplies they had gotten from the pharmacies on their recent runs. They had bandages and gauze, antiseptics, and pain killers, but he wasn't sure any of their supplies would be able to help the girl. She didn't have many open wounds, and judging from the severity of her bruising, internal injuries were quite probable. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it under the faucet so they could clean some of the dirt off of her, but Daryl couldn't help feeling as though she was already doomed.

He returned to the living room with the supplies and handed them to Beth. It was clear that Cara was skittish around him, and after what she had been through, he couldn't blame her. It was better to let Beth help her. Her goodness and kind heart were palpable even to strangers, and if anyone could make the girl feel more at ease, it was Beth. Daryl leaned against the wall out of the girl's sight and let Beth take care of her.

Beth used the washcloth to clean some of the grime from the girl's face, and she disinfected and bandaged up an open wound above her eye. Beth took in the sight of her extensive bruising and she noticed with a chill that the purple rings around her wrists meant that she had been tightly bound with some sort of rope at some point. She couldn't bring herself to clean the blood from between Cara's thighs and sat back on her heels with tears in her eyes. She blinked them away and tried to stay strong for the poor battered girl in front of her.

"What happened to you?" she asked Cara softly. The girl didn't answer, and tears began to spill down her cheeks. Beth sighed and delicately took one of Cara's hands in her own. "I know it's hard to talk about, but we need to know who did this . . . we want to keep you safe, and while it's unlikely that anyone will find us here, we need to know more about what happened so we can make sure."

Cara nodded and tried to take a deep breath, wincing and coughing when her injuries prevented her from doing so. She met Beth's gaze.

"I was traveling with my dad and my uncle. We were trying to head south, toward the coast, 'cause we thought it'd be safer, you know? We stopped in Luthersville for a night and stayed in a house there. These guys found us and wanted our supplies. My uncle put up a fight, and they shot him right in front of me and my dad. There were five or six of them . . . too many to fight off, so my dad told them to take whatever they wanted. Apparently they wanted me, and they made my dad watch while they . . ."

Beth gave Cara's hand a squeeze as she started crying harder, which brought about another fit of coughing. She glanced at Daryl and noticed that he was tightly clenching his fists and jaw as he listened to Cara's story.

"After they were done with me, they killed my dad, too. They tied me up and said they were gonna take me back to their camp with them. They were taunting me . . . they said they had about twenty people at the camp and that I was gonna be a lot of fun for some of the men. They said they wouldn't hurt me as long as I let them have me whenever they wanted and didn't tell anyone. When they fell asleep that night I tried to run away, but I tripped and the sound woke them up. When they realized I was trying to escape, they beat me and left me to die. I don't know how long I was there before you found me. At least a day. I thought I was dead until you came."

Beth couldn't stop her own tears from spilling down her cheeks as Cara cried. She quickly wiped them away and tried to smile at the girl.

"They can't hurt you anymore. We will do everything we can to keep you safe. Just rest a bit and we'll make you something to eat."

Cara gave a weak nod and closed her one open eye, succumbing to her exhaustion. Beth rose from where she was crouched next to the couch and made her way toward Daryl. His tension was obvious, and he jerked his head toward the bedroom. Beth followed him and quietly closed the door behind them.

"Her story is familiar," Daryl hissed as soon as the door was closed.

"Familiar?"

"Remember that kid back at the farm? Randall?"

Beth frowned as she remembered the debates that had ensued over whether to let Randall go or to execute him, and her eyes widened as she remembered the reason for the debate over his execution. The group he had belonged to.

"You think Randall's group was the one who did this to Cara?"

"It adds up," Daryl said. "When I questioned Randall, he admitted that his group had done some shit like this. Talked about a man and his two daughters . . . makin' the dad watch and all that. The story's too similar. And the numbers, too. Cara said they told her they had about twenty people in their camp, and Randall said they had thirty. Maybe some of 'em died since then, or maybe they ain't even the same group, but the problem is the same. They're a threat, and they're nearby."

"What do you want to do?" Beth asked, fearing his response. "Do you want to leave the cabin?"

Daryl sighed and shook his head, filling Beth with relief. "No, I don't think runnin' from place to place would be any safer than stayin' put here. We're far enough out here that hopefully we won't run into them, but it still puts me on edge."

"Maybe we can find some way to make the cabin safer? From people, I mean?"

"If they've got twenty people in their group, nothin' will stop them if they want in this cabin, Beth. You know that."

Beth bit her lip and nodded, knowing he was right. She suddenly found herself wishing that it wasn't just her and Daryl in the cabin. She loved living with him alone and who he was when they were alone together, but against human threats, safety was in numbers. She stepped closer to Daryl and wrapped her arms around his middle, more for her own comfort than for Daryl's. He circled his arms around her as well and placed his chin on top of her head.

"Ain't gonna let anything happen to you," he said quietly. "I'd die before I let someone hurt you."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true. You're too important to me, Beth."

Despite everything, Beth smiled at his comment. Daryl was always closed off when it came to talking about his feelings, and even a small admission like that meant a lot coming from him. She pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him with hope shining in her eyes.

"We'll protect each other," she said resolutely. "Because you're too important to me to lose, too."

Daryl gave her a half smile, her words warming him and affecting him more than he would admit. Even though there could be danger lurking nearby, he liked knowing that he and Beth still had each other and that she was willing to fight for him just as he was willing to fight for her.

"We should go see if we can get Cara to eat something," Daryl said after a moment. "Maybe heat up a can of soup or somethin."

Beth nodded. "Do you want to try to hunt something before the sun sets?"

Daryl immediately shook his head. "Nah. I'm not lettin' you out of my sight, girl."

The corners of Beth's mouth threatened to tug upward in a smile, but she knew he was being completely serious.

"So I'm gonna have to come with you every time you go out on a hunt?" she asked.

"Yeah," Daryl nodded. "Seriously, Beth. I'm not leavin' you alone. I'm not riskin' anything happening to you. Besides, you can keep up with your tracking lessons. Soon I'll have you doing all the tracking and I'll just be there to help you kill whatever we track down."

Beth couldn't help smiling at that. She loved to learn new skills, and she was gradually getting better at tracking with Daryl's help.

"What about Cara?" she asked suddenly. "She can't walk, are you gonna leave her alone in the cabin while we go out and hunt? Doesn't seem fair or safe for her."

Daryl sighed impatiently and ran a hand over his face. "We'll figure something out. For now, let's just stick to canned stuff we've got in the cabin."

"Okay," Beth sighed. She opened the bedroom door and made her way into the kitchen to get the wood stove going.

"I'll go get the soup from the truck," Daryl said quietly and Beth nodded in reply. He went outside and came back in a few moments later with most of their bags of loot from that day. He set them on the kitchen counter and went back outside to retrieve the rest of their goodies. Beth dug through the bags until she found the one that contained the cans of soup they had found in the gas station. She chose a can of chicken noodle soup and quickly heated it over the stove, pouring it into three bowls so that they could all get something to eat.

She made her way over to where Cara was asleep on the couch and gently shook her awake.

"Hey, made you some soup," she said. "Let's see if we can get you to sit up a little."

Beth delicately helped Cara until she was leaning against the arm of the couch so that she could eat. She gently helped her into the flannel shirt and buttoned it up, hiding her battered body from view. She situated herself on her knees next to Cara and began feeding her the soup slowly.

"Thank you," Cara said quietly. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do," Beth said firmly. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?"

"You'd be like most other people, I think," Cara said. "So many bad people are out there now. I think you might be one of the only good ones left."

The girl's statement made Beth's heart ache, but she couldn't blame her for feeling that way after what she had been through. Still, she shook her head and forced a smile.

"You'd be surprised," she said. "Daryl's a good person, too. And the group we used to be with, they're good people. Not everyone out there is bad."

"You were with a group?"

Beth nodded. "Yeah. We were living in a prison for a while. I know, it doesn't sound like a good place to be, but we made it our home. The fences kept the walkers out, and we were growing crops and building a life there."

"What happened? How come you're not there anymore?"

"Some other people tried to take it from us. It fell and we had to run. I got out with Daryl and it's just been us ever since."

"The people who tried to take it . . . they're bad people, right? It's like I said, there are so many bad people out there."

Beth sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I guess I can't deny that there are bad people out there. But there are good people, too. You have to remember that. I know you might not want to believe it after what happened to you, and I understand that. But I don't think you should dismiss your hope in humanity yet. We can't lose faith in the goodness of people."

Cara studied her with her one open eye for a moment, looking lost. "How are you able to be so positive?"

Beth shrugged. "It's just the way I am, and I believe in people." She suddenly an epiphany. "Did you ever read _The Diary of a Young Girl _by Anne Frank?"

Cara frowned a little. "Sure, in middle school I think, but I don't really remember much about it. Why?"

"She has a really great quote in that book. She says, 'in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.' I think I believe the same thing. This world changes you, and we have to do things sometimes that we wouldn't have done before, but it doesn't mean most people are bad. I think this world just forces some people to get out of touch with the goodness inside themselves. I try to remember that everyone has the potential to be a good person, and I think there are still people out there who try to be."

"You're definitely one of them," Cara mumbled, and Beth smiled.

"I know. You're in good hands."

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><p>Daryl ground out the cigarette he had been smoking on the porch with the toe of his boot and took a deep breath. He had overheard Beth and Cara's conversation, and it only made his admiration of Beth grow. He couldn't believe that she could see what people were capable of doing to a girl like Cara and still believe there was good in them.<p>

He felt that he was already losing his faith in humanity that Beth had been able to restore all those weeks ago. It had started with her kidnapping, but Cara's fate only made it worse. He couldn't tell Beth that, however. He'd never forget her wide-eyed expression when she figured out that she had been the one to change his mind about the possibility of good people, and he knew it would kill her to know that he wasn't so easy to believe in good people anymore. Cara was right; there were so many bad people in this world, and Beth was one of the only good ones left. It just increased his need to protect her and to keep her safe.

_This world can't afford to lose a bright soul like you, Beth,_ he thought. _The world would be too dark without you in it._

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review! :)<br>**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the wait! I had a difficult time writing this chapter and I'm not sure why. I'm not happy with the way it turned out. But I don't want to keep you waiting for an update any longer, so I decided to stop trying to revise it and to just publish it. The next chapter will be better!**

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><p>The rest of the afternoon was hard on Beth. After she managed to get Cara to eat some soup, she and Daryl had also eaten, and he had gone outside to start working on the barbed wire fence. Beth got the impression that being around Cara made him feel uneasy, as if she was a constant reminder of what could happen to Beth if Cara's assailants were to find them. Beth couldn't blame Daryl for not wanting to be around the girl, but it meant that Beth had to stay by her side instead. She tried her hardest to keep Cara in good spirits, but it was easier said than done. She had tried reading some Jane Austen aloud, hoping the nineteenth century romance would distract Cara from the horrible pain she was in, but her frequent coughing and resulting pain made it hard to get through even a single chapter. Eventually the girl fell asleep, and Beth stood from the second couch and went outside to stretch her legs while Cara rested.<p>

She paused for a moment as she came out onto the porch and watched Daryl at work. He was digging holes to put fence posts in, which he would then wrap the barbed wire around. Beth admired the way his muscles flexed as he worked and the way the sweat shone on his skin. Even though danger was lurking around the corner and it was possible that they could lose everything they had, Beth couldn't help feeling thankful for Daryl. If anyone could keep her safe, it was him, but she was thankful for more than just the feeling of safety and security he gave her. Beth had always been a pretty positive person, but Daryl made her love life even more.

After getting her fill of watching Daryl laboring in the late afternoon sun, Beth descended the porch steps and made her way over to him. He looked up as she approached and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"How's she doing?" he asked. Beth shrugged.

"I tried reading to her, but she kept coughing and we barely made it through a chapter. She's in a lot of pain, but she finally fell asleep."

Daryl frowned. "That's not good."

"What's not good? That she's sleeping?"

"No, that she's coughing," Daryl sighed. "She's got a couple of broken ribs. It's possible that one of her ribs punctured her lung. That would explain the coughing."

Beth's eyes widened. "How is that treated? Is there anything we can do?"

Daryl shook his head. "If it's minor, it could heal on its own. But if it ain't . . . I dunno, Beth. We just gotta keep an eye on her."

Beth nodded and bit her lip. Daryl could see that she was distraught, but there really was nothing they could do.

"I told you before we got back here that she might not make it," Daryl said quietly. "If she does have a collapsed lung, she could go at any time. I just need you to be ready for that, okay?"

Beth nodded again and blinked back tears. She had to be strong.

"Can I help you with the fence?" she asked. "I need to put my mind on something else."

"Sure," Daryl replied. "I've already dug a few holes for the fence posts, so you could hold the posts in place while I shovel the dirt back in around them."

"Sounds good."

Beth grabbed one of the pieces of lumber that Daryl had propped against the side of the cabin and dropped it into the first hole. She held it steady while Daryl filled the hole in around the post with dirt.

"So glad I grabbed this shovel today," he said offhandedly.

"Yeah," Beth agreed. "I'm also glad we got those books. I can't wait to start reading the ones by Anne Rice."

"What are they about?"

"Vampires, mostly. But there's one about witches, too. Maggie used to read them, but she always told me I was too young to read them. I can't wait to find out what she was trying to hide from me."

Daryl gave her a half smile and shook his head. Her comment made him realize how young she was; she reminded him of a teenager who couldn't wait to watch dirty movies when her parents went out of town. He tried not to think on it. Beth had proven time and time again that she wasn't a kid, but it didn't mean she wasn't young. Daryl had been slowly letting go of his sense of right and wrong when it came to her age, but he still didn't like to think about how young Beth was. The world they lived in was rough enough to make anyone grow up fast, and Beth was clearly a woman, but sometimes, in moments like this one, her youth made itself known and reminded Daryl that just a few short years ago, Beth had been a naïve, suicidal teenager. The woman standing next to him was a completely different person than the teenage Beth had been, but she was still young, and Daryl felt his protectiveness of her increase.

"It will be good to delve into those books on plants, too," Beth was still talking, and Daryl pulled himself out of his thoughts and tried to listen.

"Yeah," he agreed, packing down the dirt around the fence post and moving to the next hole. Beth grabbed another piece of lumber and placed it in the hole as Daryl began to fill it in around the post.

"What month do you suppose it is?" Beth asked, seeming as though she were talking just for the sake of distracting herself.

"Uh . . . October? Maybe November?" Daryl guessed. The nights were definitely cold now, and the leaves had changed colors a few weeks prior on the trees. Winter would be upon them very soon, which made Daryl curse the timing of the arrival of danger.

"Maybe in a few weeks we should pick a day to be our Thanksgiving," Beth suggested. "We could prepare a special meal and make a thing of it."

Daryl scoffed. "What do we need to do that for? We should be savin' our food, not makin' special meals."

"We should do it because we have a lot to be thankful for," Beth said. "This cabin, all the supplies we've found, the truck . . . each other." She smiled softly at him. "I'm most thankful for you. For what we have together. I think we should celebrate it."

Daryl felt his chest get a little tight as he looked at her, and he gave her a single nod.

"Okay," he agreed. He turned back to filling in the dirt around the fence post they were currently working on. "Ain't never had a Thanksgivin' before," he admitted after a few moments.

"Well then I'll make sure you have one, and a good one worth remembering at that," Beth said with a warm smile. Daryl felt his chest tighten again and he couldn't help returning her smile.

They worked silently side by side for a while, both of them already thinking about their Thanksgiving. His family had never celebrated the holiday growing up, and until the world went to shit, Thanksgiving had only been a reminder of what he had never had. He had to admit that he was looking forward to finally being able to celebrate the holiday. Daryl hoped he would be able to get a deer for the meal. They could eat as much of the deer as they pleased and then they could dry the rest of the meat.

Beth was excited, too. Thanksgiving was always a pleasant time around her house growing up, when all the kids were home from college and their family got to be together. She found herself missing her father and Maggie more than ever, but she was glad she had Daryl. Despite all the difficulties and loss they had experienced, he was still able to make her happy. He was definitely worth celebrating.

After a while, they had filled in all the fence post holes that Daryl had dug before Beth came outside. She sighed and wished they had grabbed a second shovel, but Daryl seemed content to finish the digging on his own.

"I'm gonna go check on Cara and then put some supplies away," Beth said. "I'll be back out in a little while."

Daryl nodded and Beth made her way back inside. Cara's breathing appeared to be a little shallow, but the girl was sleeping soundly and Beth didn't want to wake her. She went to the kitchen where Daryl had put the bags of their loot from that day on the counter. Resisting the urge to hum so she didn't wake Cara, Beth quietly moved about the cabin putting away their supplies. She grinned to herself when she came to the hefty supply of condoms Daryl had taken from one of the pharmacies. He had taken so many boxes that they wouldn't all fit in the bedside table drawer, and Beth had to stash a few of them under the bed.

Deciding to do a little laundry, Beth gathered up her dirty clothes and the laundry soap and went into the bathroom to wash them in the tub. The bathroom was growing dark, as the sun was now setting outside, and she quickly scrubbed her clothing before all the light vanished and left the bathroom in total darkness. She knew Daryl would have to come inside soon once he no longer had light to work by; they would have to finish the fence tomorrow.

After hanging her clothes to dry, Beth went back out in the living room and went to the fireplace to light a fire. She fumbled around in the dim lighting for the Bic lighter they had been using for the fireplace, but before she could find it, a rattling moan came from behind her. A chill ran through her and she whirled around, seeing Cara reaching for her on the couch.

"Cara?" she asked hesitantly.

The moan grew louder, and Cara lurched herself off the couch and toward Beth. Beth's heart sank as she realized what was happening, and she scrambled away from Cara as the girl clawed her way across the floor toward Beth. Through the dim light of sundown, she could see that the girl's one open eye no longer held the spark of life. Beth's eyes flooded with tears and she reached for her knife that was in her pocket, fumbling with it in her distress. She struggled to open the Swiss army knife, and Cara's dead hands suddenly latched on to Beth's ankle and began tugging her toward her gnashing teeth.

"Daryl!" Beth shrieked, still unable to open the knife due to her shaking hands.

She tried to kick the dead girl away from her, and she heard the sound of Daryl's heavy footsteps as he ran inside. Cara was abruptly pulled off of her and Beth squeezed her eyes shut as Daryl unsheathed his own knife. She heard him put Cara down and the girl's snarling stopped, leaving only the sound of Beth's tears that were now spilling down her cheeks. Daryl rushed to Beth's side and began looking her over.

"You okay? Did she get you?"

Beth shook her head, letting her tears fall freely. Daryl had warned her, not even a few hours ago, that this could happen, but she was still in shock that it had happened so suddenly. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged herself, and she felt Daryl wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest in a tight embrace.

"She was fine not even twenty minutes ago," Beth choked out. "She was sleeping. I put our stuff away and washed some clothes, and when I came out here to light a fire she was suddenly gone and came after me."

"There was nothin' we could've done, Beth," Daryl said quietly. "We did everything we could."

Beth nodded and wiped at the tears on her cheeks.

"Look at it this way," Daryl continued. "At least she didn't die alone. We got her out of there and she got to feel your kindness before she went. She at least felt safe and taken care of."

Fresh tears spilled down Beth's cheeks, but she nodded. "Yeah. I just wish we could have done more."

Daryl hummed in agreement, the sound vibrating in his chest. Beth took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to allow herself to be calmed by his scent and his embrace. He held her tightly against him and made no moves to let her go. They clung to each other as the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness fell around them, each taking comfort in each other.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be happier (and it will probably be sexier, too; I'm having smut withdrawals). Please review! :)<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm pleased with the way this chapter turned out. I hope you all enjoy it, too. :)**

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><p>Beth's eyes fluttered open, and she noticed that the bed was empty next to her. She could hear a rhythmic sound coming from outside the cabin. She stood from the bed and went over to the bedroom window, pulling back the curtains to reveal the source of the sound.<p>

Daryl was outside digging a grave for Cara beneath a dogwood tree behind the cabin. The sun had barely even begun to peek over the horizon, and judging from the depth of the hole he had dug, he had been at his task for some time. Beth's eyes drifted to the sheet-covered form next to the grave and she bit her lip, trying to fight off the wave of sadness that came over her at the sight. She could feel that her eyes were still swollen from crying the night before, and thankfully no fresh tears sprang to her eyes now. She had cried all the tears she had left the night before in Daryl's arms.

She hadn't even known Cara longer than a few hours, but her inability to save the girl was what was really hurting Beth. She hated knowing what Cara had gone through without being able to show her that there was still goodness left in the world. Even with everything she and Daryl had done, Beth could sense that Cara had lost her faith in humanity. Beth wished she could have changed that.

She sighed and quickly got dressed before wandering out into the chilly morning air. The sun was just beginning to shine over the horizon, and a fog still lingered, yet to be warmed away by the sun. She made her way over to where Daryl had just finished digging. He looked up as she approached.

"Was just gonna come wake you," he said, his voice rough from lack of use.

Beth looked down at Cara's body that was hidden from view by an old plaid sheet that Daryl had taken from the linen closet.

"I'll help you put her in," she said.

Daryl nodded and bent down toward the body, careful not to let the sheet slip and uncover her as he slipped his arms under Cara's shoulders. Beth lifted beneath Cara's feet and the two of them carefully lowered her into the grave. Daryl grabbed the shovel again and began replacing the dirt around her body while Beth watched in a daze. After a few moments, she blinked herself out of her reverie and walked into the trees, grabbing two large sticks from the ground. Beth wandered back toward the house and to the toolbox on the screened in porch. She found a nail and removed her pink hammer from her belt loop to nail the two sticks into a cross. When she was done, she slipped the hammer back into her belt loop and made her way back to Cara's grave. She shoved the cross into the ground at the head of the grave and placed her hand on Daryl's arm to cease his shoveling.

"Let me finish it," she said.

"You sure?"

Beth nodded, and Daryl surrendered the shovel to her. He had already filled in the grave about halfway, and Cara's body was no longer visible, but Beth wanted to finish the job. Daryl stood behind her and watched as she filled in the grave with dirt, each shovel-full feeling heavier than the last. When she finished, she set down the shovel and went to stand by Daryl, who immediately took her hand in his.

"You wanna say somethin?" he asked.

Beth shrugged. "Dunno what to say," she admitted. "We didn't know anything about her. I dunno if she was religious, so prayer doesn't really seem right. I don't know what prayer I would say anyway."

Daryl nodded solemnly and gave Beth's hand a comforting squeeze.

"This is gonna sound silly," Beth said, "But there's a quote from Buffy that just came to mind. She says, 'The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.' I think that applies now more than ever. And at least Cara doesn't have to live in this world anymore."

Daryl frowned at her, remembering when Beth had lost her own will to live shortly after they had met for the first time. Beth seemed to sense what he was thinking and shook her head.

"I'm not saying people should want to die. I've been there, done that, and I'm over it. I'm just saying that it's good that she's in a better place. Even if there is no heaven and there's nothing after death, nothing is still better than what she went through. She doesn't have to fight anymore or be scared anymore. She's either basking in eternal glory or she doesn't exist anymore, and either way, I think that's okay."

Daryl's grip grew tighter on Beth's hand and he swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. He wasn't a religious person, and he didn't believe in the concept of Heaven or Hell, but the thought of nothingness after death had always unnerved him. However now, Beth's statement made sense. The world they lived in was fucked up, and while he certainly didn't want to die anytime soon, thinking about the nothingness that could follow death actually wasn't so scary. _Life_ was the scary thing nowadays, not _death_. But it just meant that he wanted to live as much as he could while he still could, and he wanted to live that life with the woman next to him.

Beth began to walk away, but she kept her fingers entwined with his, tugging him along with her back toward the cabin. He followed willingly and allowed her to lead him through their fence and inside, only stopping when she reached the bedroom and dropped his hand. She turned to face him and moved her body close to his, her deep blue eyes staring into his own and her lips mere inches from his.

"Make me feel alive, Daryl," she said quietly.

He understood what she needed perfectly because he felt the same need. He needed to be with her intimately, not for sexual desire, but to feel the thrill that life gave them. Facing the harsh reality that death was always around the corner wasn't new to either of them, but in that moment, they both felt the need to remember and feel what made life worth living.

Daryl brought his hands to the sides of Beth's face, cupping it between them and rubbing the pads of his thumbs over her smooth cheeks. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her with everything he had, and Beth felt her knees weaken from the sheer passion of his kiss. She sighed into the kiss and returned it with equal intensity. Her small hands tangled themselves in Daryl's long hair as she molded her body against his. His tongue entered her mouth and mingled with hers, but it wasn't their usual battle for dominance. Instead it was almost tender, yet eager and passionate at the same time.

Beth began to back up toward the bed behind her without breaking the kiss. She disentangled her hands from Daryl's hair and ran them under his shirt, loving the way his warm skin felt under her touch. Their lips parted only momentarily as she pulled the shirt over his head. She shivered as Daryl's calloused fingertips ghosted across her stomach beneath her own shirt, and soon it joined Daryl's shirt on the floor. She wore no bra, and she reveled in the feeling of their bare chests pressing against one another as she fell onto the bed, taking Daryl with her.

She scooted back to the pillows at the head of the bed and immediately began working on the fastenings of Daryl's pants, his hands simultaneously unbuttoning her own pants and tugging them down her legs along with her panties. Beth pulled Daryl's pants down as far as she could, and he aided her in kicking them off, leaving them both naked. Daryl paused and drank in the sight of Beth's exposed body, which she made no effort to hide. Her nipples were hard, whether from desire or from the chill of the cabin, he wasn't sure, and her skin looked pale, smooth, and perfect everywhere his eyes searched. He was unable to find a single imperfection about her, and he was overcome with appreciation for her.

"You're so beautiful," he said quietly.

Beth blushed a little and smiled. She loved hearing Daryl tell her that she was beautiful. If she thought about it, no one had said those words to her before him, which just made them sound even more wonderful. She brought her smiling lips back to his and kissed him passionately again. She could feel his erection against her inner thigh and she arched her hips up, grinding herself against him. Daryl's lips left hers and began trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone. His facial hair scratched her skin in a delicious way, and Beth released a moan when he opened his lips and sucked on her neck, marking her. She arched her hips against him again and he ran one of his hands down her body and between her legs. He began rubbing slow, soft circles around her clit, and Beth moaned again.

"I need you now," she murmured breathlessly.

"You ain't ready yet," Daryl replied softly against her neck. She was growing wetter as he touched her, but he knew she wasn't wet enough to take him just yet.

"Don't care," Beth panted. "Need you."

Daryl brought his mouth away from her neck and spat into his palm. He wiped his saliva on the tip of his erection and positioned himself between her legs. He slowly slipped inside her, moving inch by inch until he was completely sheathed to the hilt. Beth wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her ankles behind him. She ground her hips up against his, prompting him to move. He slowly pulled out of her about halfway before sliding back in, amazed by how wet she had become so quickly. Beth's hands found their way back to his hair and she abruptly tugged him down to her lips, moaning into his mouth as he thrust into her again. Daryl's tongue tangled with hers as he set a steady pace. Each thrust took him deep inside her and he was astounded by how amazing her tight walls felt around him as he moved.

Suddenly he stopped, realizing why she felt better than usual. Beth pulled away from his lips and frowned up at him, squirming a little in an attempt to get him to keep moving.

"We need a condom," he muttered, but Beth shook her head and tightened her legs around his waist, her ankles still locked together and holding him in place.

"Leave it," she commanded breathlessly. "Wanna feel you, and just you right now."

The logical side of him insisted that this was a bad idea, but Daryl brushed the thoughts away and nodded. He looked down into her deep blue eyes and thrust into her again, hard this time, causing her to cry out as he hit her sensitive spot deep inside her. His eyes didn't leave hers as he continued to thrust into her slow, deep, and hard. The connection Daryl felt to Beth became stronger, almost overwhelming, and he suddenly realized that this wasn't just fucking. This was making love. He had never used those words before to define his sexual encounters, but he felt that it was the only accurate way to describe what was happening between them at that moment.

Beth's eyes began to flutter closed as she neared her climax, and he sped up a little in hopes of getting her there faster, as he wasn't going to last much longer himself. She gasped and moaned as he pounded into her, and soon she came undone beneath him, her walls constricting around him in pulsating waves and sending him over the edge.

"Beth," he groaned out, and he abruptly pulled out of her warmth and finished himself on her lower belly without a second to spare. He collapsed next to her on the bed and allowed himself a moment to catch his breath before going to the dresser and grabbing one of the old white undershirts from the cabin's original occupant and making his way back to Beth, where he cleaned up his mess from her stomach with the shirt. He fell back on the bed beside her and turned on his side to face her.

"Shouldn't have done that without a condom," he said.

"I know," Beth sighed. "It's just not as intimate with a condom, and I needed more, you know?"

"I know."

Daryl reached his arm over and pulled Beth into his body, and she turned on her side and curled into him with her back to his chest. She loved how perfectly they fit together and how right it felt to be close to him like this. She had spooned this way with both Zach and Jimmy, but she didn't seem to fit against them nearly as well as she did against Daryl. It was as though he were the missing piece to her puzzle, as corny as that seemed.

Daryl began running his fingertips over Beth's skin, giving her pleasant goosebumps. She sighed contentedly and let her eyes flutter closed as she enjoyed his delicate touches. She realized that she would probably have to take one of the Plan B packages she had swiped from the pharmacy. Even if it would make her feel under the weather for a day or two, it wasn't worth the risk of conceiving a child. The world was already a dangerous place, and Beth couldn't imagine having to deal with pregnancy and the birth and care of a child with the added danger of Cara's assailants being somewhere nearby. Her body and mind were already under enough stress as it was.

"We should finish the barbed wire fence today," Daryl said after a few moments.

"Yeah," Beth agreed. "Can we just lay here for a few more minutes?"

Daryl chuckled a little. "Sure. We can lay here for as long as you want."

"In that case, let's lay here forever," she said with a smile, turning around to face him. "I just want to pretend that everything hasn't gone to hell. I want to pretend that the dead aren't walking and trying to eat us, that crazy groups of sadistic people aren't out to hurt us, and that the only thing we have to worry about today is when to finally get ourselves out of bed."

Daryl gave Beth a sad smile and nodded in agreement. "Me too, girl. Me too."

Beth pressed her lips to Daryl's and got lost in the kiss. The world would never be "normal" as it once was, and no matter how much pretending they did, it couldn't change the reality of the harsh life they had been forced into. But both found consolation in the fact that despite all the factors working against them, they still had each other.

Beth pulled away from Daryl's lips and stared into his icy blue eyes, and she felt her heart expand as if she had a balloon in her chest as she looked at him. With a start, she realized that her feelings for him ran deep, deeper than she had ever thought they would. What had started as a feeling of safety had grown to sexual attraction, but now, it was so much more than that. She knew that she would die without him if she lost him, and not just because he kept her safe, but because she would lose the will to carry on without him. He was her rock, and as she continued to look into his eyes, Beth slowly came to terms with a fact that scared her more than anything they had faced thus far.

Beth was falling in love with Daryl. And she was falling fast.

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><p><strong>I think I'll aim for a few chapters of fluff and smut before bringing in more conflict to the story. I can't handle the depressing shit right now.<strong>

**Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Wow, this story has reached over 100 reviews! That milestone means so much to me. Until a few months ago, I hadn't written any fiction in almost five years, so it feels amazing to know you guys are enjoying what I'm writing. I'm a full-time editor and I make my living fixing errors and giving other people feedback, and it feels great to get some feedback of my own. You guys are amazing and you make me want to keep writing! :)**

**Here's chapter seventeen! Enjoy!**

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><p>Beth drew her sweater closer to her body in an attempt to retain some warmth as she followed Daryl through the woods. This day was turning out to be colder than any they had endured so far, meaning that winter was definitely almost upon them. She wished she had thought to grab a jacket or a coat of some kind on their last supply run, and she considered mentioning it now, but she knew Daryl would shoot down the idea. With the location of Cara's assailants still unknown, the thought of going into a nearby town made him uneasy, and he had declared that they would hold off on supply runs until absolutely necessary. With the meat he would be able to procure from hunting, they would have enough food and supplies on hand for the next few weeks at least. He hoped that Cara's attackers would have moved on from the area before he and Beth would need to make another run.<p>

Daryl had stuck to his word that he would not leave Beth alone, and now, here she was, trying to step as quietly as she could as he attempted to hunt down a meal for them. Daryl had given up letting Beth lead the tracking effort that day. It had been three days since she had taken the Plan B pills, but she seemed as though she were still feeling the side effects. They were nothing serious, but the fatigue the pills had brought about made it difficult for her to concentrate, and she kept losing her ability to focus on the tracks in front of her. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the cabin and curl up on the couch by the fire to sleep, but they needed meat, and Daryl wasn't about to let her go back to the cabin alone.

Daryl glanced back at Beth, noticing the way she had wrapped her arms around herself, and he knew she was cold. She looked exhausted as well; the circles under her eyes that normally weren't there were a dead giveaway. He knew nothing about the emergency contraceptive pills Beth had taken, and despite Beth's assurances that the side effects she was experiencing were normal, it still worried him. He sighed and focused on the rabbit tracks he was following. He had only managed to catch one squirrel so far, and he hoped it wouldn't be much longer until he came upon the rabbit who had made the tracks he was pursuing.

They continued quietly traversing through the woods for a while, neither of them speaking to avoid scaring off any potential game. Beth was getting much better at making her steps quiet, but Daryl was still aware of her presence behind him. A flash of movement to his left caught his eye, and in a heartbeat, Daryl had raised the crossbow and released a bolt into a squirrel that had been scurrying on a tree next to them. He went to retrieve his prize and attached it to his belt with the first squirrel. When he glanced back at Beth, he noticed that she was leaning against a tree with a hand pressed over her lower abdomen, her brow furrowed in what looked like pain.

"You okay? What's goin' on?" he immediately asked her.

Beth grimaced and stood up straight. "Just give me a minute. I need to check something."

She ignored Daryl's confused frown and turned and headed into the trees so that she was just out of sight. The cramps she was feeling were familiar, and she wanted to verify that they were what she thought. She quickly unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down just enough to peek into her underwear. Sure enough, it seemed as though her period had finally decided to make an appearance. Beth sighed, thankful she had been wearing pantyliners as a precaution since taking the Plan B pills, but she knew she would have to get something more substantial before her flow increased. It had been a few months since she had even had a period, and Beth wasn't sure what to expect.

She made her way back to Daryl, who looked confused and mildly irritated.

"Can we head back?" Beth asked.

"Why? You okay?"

Beth nodded. "My period finally decided to make an appearance," she sighed.

"Oh," Daryl said, sounding relieved that it wasn't something more serious. He glanced down at the tracks in the ground, wishing he had some way of knowing how close the rabbit was.

"Do you need to head back right now?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Beth huffed a little.

"I guess not right away, but soon would be good. There's stuff I need back at the cabin."

"Like what?"

"Like tampons, Daryl."

He reddened, suddenly feeling very stupid. Of course that's why she needed to head back. It wasn't just because she was in pain. He nodded in mild embarrassment.

"C'mon, let's go."

He reluctantly abandoned the rabbit tracks and began heading back the way they'd come. At least he had managed to get two squirrels. He had wanted to get more, maybe dry some of the meat they couldn't eat, but this would have to do. He glanced at Beth, who looked relieved to be heading home. She grimaced as her cramps grew in severity, and Daryl wished he could do something for her. Suddenly he realized that as far as he knew, Beth hadn't had a period since they had been traveling together. He frowned and glanced back at her.

"When's the last time this happened?" he asked, motioning toward her stomach. "Don't remember you goin' through this before."

"It's been a while," Beth sighed. "A few months. I haven't had a period since before the prison fell. Stress can do crazy things to your body. I guess those Plan B pills did something with my hormones and jumpstarted it again."

Daryl nodded and kept walking. He wasn't familiar with the workings of the female anatomy, but he was sure that skipping periods wasn't normal. He tried not to let himself worry about Beth's health and instead reminded himself that the arrival of her period meant one positive thing: she was not pregnant. After Lori's fate, the thought of Beth getting pregnant terrified him. And even if childbirth hadn't suddenly become so dangerous, the idea of traveling with an infant child in a walker-infested world was equally as terrifying to him. He suddenly wondered if perhaps it would be a good idea to search for birth control pills as an added precaution on their next supply run, whenever that would be. Daryl didn't want to take any chances.

Beth looked very relieved when the cabin finally emerged through the trees. They slipped past the spikes in the ground and went around to where they had made an opening in the barbed wire fence behind their first line of defense. Daryl had finished the barbed wire fence the day before, and he was satisfied with the way it had turned out. It was unlikely that any wandering ghouls would be able to approach the cabin without getting impaled on the spikes or snagged in the wire, and even if they did manage to get past both fences, the perimeter alarm still served as a final warning system. Daryl just wished that the walkers were the only threat to worry about, because the two fences would do nothing to keep out living threats.

As they entered the cabin, Beth immediately made her way to the bathroom, and Daryl went to start a fire in the fireplace to warm the chill from the cabin. He held his hands in front of the new flames and let the warmth seep into his cold fingers. Beth emerged from the bathroom and fell onto one of the living room couches with a groan. Daryl turned to face her and noticed her face was contorted with pain.

"You wanna take some ibuprofen or somethin?" he suggested. "We do have some."

Beth shook her head. "We should save it. It's uncomfortable, but it's nothing I can't handle. I'm just going to try to sleep for a while."

"Okay," Daryl agreed, wishing he could do something to help her feel better. "I'm gonna go gut the squirrels. I'll be outside on the porch if you need me."

Beth nodded with a yawn and curled into herself for a nap. She wished her cramps would go away, but she was thankful that they were back in the cabin where she could sleep and stay warmer by the fire. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the pain in her lower abdomen for long enough to fall asleep.

Daryl went back outside with the squirrels in hand and sat down on the porch steps to gut and clean his kills. The sky was growing cloudy and the wind was starting to pick up a little. He didn't think it was cold enough for snow, but it was clear that some kind of precipitation was on the way. He was extremely thankful that he and Beth had the cabin to shelter them from the elements. The previous winter had been a mild one, but spending the winter scavenging and running from place to place had taken its toll on everyone. He was glad that he and Beth had a roof over their heads and a fire to keep them warm through whatever weather winter decided to throw at them.

Once the squirrels were skinned, gutted, and cleaned, Daryl made his way back inside the cabin. Beth was asleep on the couch, but her hands covered her abdomen and a slight frown creased her forehead. Daryl sighed, once again wishing there was something he could do to help. He went to the kitchen sink and washed the dried squirrel blood from his hands. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he quickly gathered all the kitchen pots that were in the cabinets and filled them with water. He lit a fire in the wood stove and put the pots over the stove to heat the water. It took a while, but once the water was boiling, he brought each full pot to the bathtub and emptied the boiling water into the tub. He continued boiling water in the pots until the tub was full, which took almost an hour. He tested the water in the tub and smiled. It was still piping hot, but it had cooled down enough to be the perfect temperature for a bath. He made his way into the living room and knelt down next to the couch, shaking Beth awake gently.

"What is it?" she asked groggily as she opened her eyes.

"Got somethin' that'll make you feel better."

"Unless it's a chocolate bar you've been holding out on me, I think you're lying," Beth mumbled sleepily, and Daryl snorted.

"C'mon," he urged. "Come see."

Beth groaned and sat up. She followed Daryl into the bathroom with a confused expression on her face. She frowned when he pointed to the full bathtub.

"Daryl, I appreciate the thought, but a cold bath isn't going to numb my uterus out of hurting," she said, and Daryl rolled his eyes.

"I ain't that stupid, girl," he scoffed at her. "It ain't cold. See for yourself."

Beth knelt by the tub and put her hand into the hot water, and she moaned aloud at the feeling.

"Oh my god, how did you manage this?" she asked.

"Boiled a bunch of water to fill the tub for you," Daryl shrugged. "Took a while, but I wanted to help you feel better."

Beth took two steps back to where Daryl was standing and threw her arms around him.

"You are amazing and I don't deserve you," she sighed happily. Daryl felt his heart speed up a little at her words, and he had to fight the voice inside his head that countered that _he _was the one who didn't deserve _her. _

"You deserve more than I can give you," he mumbled. "But this is the best I can do right now."

Beth looked up at him with a wide smile on her face. "It's perfect. Thank you."

Daryl smiled back at her and nodded toward the tub. "Go on, then. Get to relaxin' before it gets cold."

Beth grinned and immediately pulled her shirt over her head, followed by her bra. Daryl leaned against the doorframe and shamelessly watched her undress as she wiggled out of her jeans. She hesitated, her hands stilling as they reached her underwear. She glanced back at Daryl, who frowned a little.

"Since when are you too modest to undress in front of me?" he asked.

Beth blushed and looked away from him. "I'm wearing a tampon and I don't want you to see . . ."

Daryl scoffed. "You serious? After all we've been through together, you're worried 'bout me seeing a little string between your legs? You're crazy, girl."

Beth laughed a little, realizing how silly her embarrassment was. Daryl was right. She shrugged and decided to let go of her shyness, removing her underwear and stepping delicately into the hot water. Goosebumps instantly covered her skin as she lowered herself into the steaming water, letting out a long moan as she did so. The heat enveloped her body and she felt her muscles immediately relaxing. She looked to Daryl, who was still standing in the doorway looking very pleased with himself.

"You should come join me," she said with a grin. "You went through all the trouble to heat up this water and I think you should get to enjoy it with me."

Daryl shrugged. "Nah. I did it for you. Want you to relax."

"I am relaxing, and I can relax just as well with you in here with me. Please join me?" Beth urged.

Daryl hesitated for a moment before shrugging and deciding to give in. He quickly pulled off his own clothes, and Beth scooted forward in the tub to make room for him. He stepped into the tub and resisted the urge to moan like Beth had upon feeling the hot water. He slid down into the tub to sit behind her, and Beth leaned her back against his chest, sighing contentedly. Daryl wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed the feeling of relaxation and intimacy.

"I'm feeling better already," Beth sighed. The hot water was already beginning to ease her cramps away.

Daryl removed his arms from around Beth's body and gently pressed her forward. He began rubbing her shoulders, his strong hands starting to work the knots out of her muscles. Beth groaned in appreciation as her eyes fluttered closed.

"You're the best boyfriend ever," she murmured. Her eyes snapped open and as she realized what she had said, but Daryl didn't look bothered.

"Sorry, didn't mean to say that . . . unless it's okay that I did?" Beth said uncertainly, and Daryl laughed softly as he continued to rub her back. They had never put a label on their evolving relationship, and she wasn't sure if Daryl would want to be called a "boyfriend."

"Ain't never been nobody's boyfriend before," he admitted. "But if that's what you want me to be, I'll try to be a good one."

Beth turned a little in his arms to see his face better. "We don't have to label it like that if you don't want to. But I want you to know that I'm yours. And I hope you want to be mine."

Daryl's chest constricted a little, and he tightened his hold on Beth, loving the sound of her being his.

"I'm all yours, girl," he said quietly. "I'm yours for as long as you'll have me."

Beth smiled and pressed her lips to his, feeling herself fall more in love with him. He was hers and she was his. They belonged to each other, and the feeling made her chest swell with happiness.

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><p><strong>Just FYI, I don't know if my depictions of Georgia winter will be accurate. My grandmother lives in Marietta (a northwest suburb of Atlanta), but I have never visited during the winter. I live in Iowa, and our winters are pretty brutal (our high temperature today is 3 degrees!), and I've never experienced a southern winter. I apologize if my depictions of winter there are inaccurate!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**I wrote the end of this chapter on my lunch break. I wonder what my colleagues would think if they realized what I was actually working on in my cube . . . you'll see why when you get to it. Haha! ;) Enjoy! **

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><p>Beth sorted through their stash of first aid supplies and picked out a few packages of gauze, some rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of painkillers. She tossed them into the plastic bag she was holding and went out into the living room where Daryl was loading a decent supply of dried rabbit meat into another bag.<p>

"Where is the sewing kit you used to stitch me up when we first got here?" Beth asked. "I think it would be good to put in here, just in case."

"End table in the living room," Daryl replied, and Beth made her way over to the end table and tossed the small sewing kit into the bag.

It had now been almost two weeks since Cara's death, and although they had experienced no issues with people finding the cabin, they decided that it would be a good idea to put a few bags of emergency supplies in the truck in case they had to make a quick getaway, whether from threats living or dead. It had been Beth's idea, and Daryl wholeheartedly supported the plan. He was surprised that neither of them had thought of it sooner.

Daryl had also showed Beth how to hot wire the truck. Since they didn't have the keys for the vehicle, she needed to know how to start it in case they had to run and Daryl wasn't able to go with her. At first, Beth refused to acknowledge that she would ever leave the cabin without him, but Daryl insisted that she had to learn just in case. He had no intentions of splitting up with her either, but in their world, things rarely went the way they were supposed to. It put Daryl's mind more at ease to know that Beth could escape in the truck without him if it really came down to it.

"What'd you put in the bag?" Daryl asked her as he came over with a bag full of food and bottled water in one hand and one of their cooking pots in the other. He grabbed his crossbow from by the door and shouldered it, not wanting to leave the house without a weapon, no matter how close by they were going.

"First aid supplies, the map, a flashlight with extra batteries, and condoms."

Daryl arched his eyebrows at the mention of the final item.

"What?" Beth said innocently. "You said pack the essentials!"

He gave her an amused smirk and slipped past her to take his stash of supplies out to the truck. He still found it hard to believe that Beth was really his. They had only been sleeping together for two weeks (technically one due to Beth's period the week before), but already he was addicted to her, and he couldn't believe that she felt the same need. He kept thinking that he would wake up and it would all be a dream. It seemed impossible that such a beautiful, pure woman like Beth wanted him to put his dirty hands on her all the time.

It wasn't just about the sex, however. Daryl knew he had feelings for Beth, but he wasn't sure how deep they ran. Having feelings for a woman was an entirely new concept to him. It felt foreign, and he wasn't sure what it all meant. He knew that his chest felt tight whenever she flashed one of her genuine, warm smiles at him. He knew that his heart sped up when she said anything even remotely romantic, and that the corners of his mouth always seemed to twitch upward whenever he heard her sing. Most importantly, she made him feel like a good man, which was a big step for him. And he knew that he should probably tell her all of these things that she made him feel, but the thought made him clam up and forget everything he wanted to say. He wasn't sure he could even put his feelings into words. He was in completely uncharted territory, blindly trying to find his way.

Daryl heard Beth following behind him to take her own bag of supplies out to the truck. They wove their way through both of their fences and walked over to the truck. Daryl opened the passenger side door and placed his bag of food and water on the floorboards, along with the cooking pot. Beth put her own bag down next to his and stretched, looking around the quiet woods for signs of walkers. Suddenly Daryl felt her hand grasp his arm, and he immediately looked in the direction of her line of sight.

A doe stood about two hundred feet away, her head down grazing on the forest floor in front of her. Daryl glanced quickly at Beth, who was smiling. He slowly pulled his crossbow from its place on his back and raised the loaded bow. He took careful aim and took in a deep breath, letting the arrow fly as he exhaled. The arrow sailed through the air and struck the doe in the neck, immediately downing his prey. Daryl shared a wide smile with Beth before running toward his kill. He pulled out his hunting knife and quickly finished the job and ended the deer's misery. Beth appeared at his side, still smiling.

"You still want to have a Thanksgiving?" Daryl grinned up at her.

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><p>Their meal was a simple one, but it seemed like it would be the best meal either of them had had in a long time. Daryl had butchered up some large deer steaks from the doe, and he planned to smoke and dry the rest of the meat the next day. He took care of preparing the protein, frying the steaks in a large skillet over the fire with ample salt and pepper, and Beth handled the rest of the meal: sautéed dandelion leaves and candied hickory nuts for dessert. She was especially excited to have something sweet to snack on after the meal, because it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without dessert. Beth had stumbled upon the hickory nuts when she was picking dandelion leaves, and Daryl had identified several large hickory trees near the cabin that had littered the ground with nuts. All she had to candy them with was sugar and water, and roasting them with the wood stove had been difficult, but she was still looking forward to the treats anyway.<p>

Preparing the meal made Beth feel like they were just a normal couple living a normal life, and for a while, she had been able to forget all the dangers that constantly threatened them. Daryl had hovered over her while she candied the hickory nuts, and the way she had needed to constantly bat his hands away from sampling the goodies reminded her of how her family's Thanksgivings had been, except it had always been her father and brother who had been trying to snatch tastes of things all day. Beth had sung while she worked, and more than once she had caught Daryl smiling softly at her as she did.

"Meat's almost done," Daryl called to her from beside the fire. She gave the dandelion leaves a final stir and pulled them from the heat.

"Dandelion is done, too. Bring the deer over here and we'll serve it up."

Daryl brought the hot skillet into the kitchen and set it down on the stove. The smell of candied nuts and now the cooked deer steaks filled the cabin, and Beth couldn't stop inhaling the wonderful homey scent. She grabbed two plates from the cupboard and served them up with the meat and greens. She wished they had a starch of some kind, but she was still grateful for what they did have.

The pair of them took their full plates over to the coffee table, as the cabin didn't have a real kitchen table, and sat down next to each other. Daryl looked at Beth with an uncertain expression.

"Ain't we supposed to say grace or some shit like that?" he asked.

Beth laughed a little. "At my house we always did, but I know you're not really into that. How about we just say what we're thankful for?"

Daryl scoffed. "That's lame."

"Yeah, well, it's what you do on Thanksgiving," Beth argued with a playful nudge to his side. "You give thanks."

"You go first."

"Okay. I'm thankful for this amazing cabin, for the defenses we were able to put in place, for all the supplies we've found, for your amazing hunting skills," she listed off, nudging him playfully again, "and most of all, I'm thankful for you and this relationship we have. I'm thankful that I got out of the prison with you. Even though we haven't found the rest of our group, and we might not ever find them, I'm still thankful that we're together. I haven't been this happy in . . . well, probably not since the turn, and that's a pretty big deal."

She smiled brightly at him, and Daryl felt that familiar tightness in his chest that this time threatened to be almost overwhelming. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

"Well, now I regret makin' you go first 'cause I dunno how I'm gonna follow that," he muttered, and Beth giggled. "I'm thankful for all that, too. And for you. I'm thankful that I got you back and didn't lose you. I ain't ever gonna lose you again, I'm gonna make sure of it."

Beth leaned into him and he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. They broke apart soon after and Beth smiled at him.

"Well, happy Thanksgiving," she said. "I hope it makes up for all the Thanksgivings you missed growing up."

"It already has," Daryl smiled at her.

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><p>The two of them ate until they could eat no more, and even after they had reached their limits, they still couldn't keep their hands off of the candied hickory nuts until Beth finally put them in a container and stashed them away out of their reach. Beth had changed into one of her sleep flannels shortly after their meal, and both of them had been stretched out on the same couch for almost two hours now, Daryl in the center of the couch with his feet propped on the coffee table and Beth laying lengthwise with her legs across his lap. She was reading aloud from <em>Interview with the Vampire<em>, and Daryl was tracing patterns on the smooth skin of her legs.

As she read, Daryl hardly focused on the words, but instead on the sweet way her voice sounded, and how the light from the fire made her blonde hair seem to almost glow. Eventually his touch started to wander farther up her legs, his fingertips caressing her skin closer and closer to her center, but never touching her there. He knew Beth was aware of what he was doing; he caught the tiny smirks on her face each time his fingers ghosted near her center.

"'I went down into the street after Lestat and walked for blocks,'" she continued reading, biting her lip for just a moment when Daryl's fingers inched closer between her legs. "'The streets were muddy then, the actual blocks islands above the gutters, and the entire city so dark compared to the cities of today. The lights were—'"

She gasped suddenly as Daryl's touch finally reached her sensitive center. He rubbed her through the fabric of her underwear, and he could already feel the moisture gathering between her legs from the anticipation of his touch. He ran his other hand up beneath the flannel, over her flat stomach, and to her small, firm breasts. Daryl's calloused fingertips gently circled one of her hardened nipples, and Beth let out a small, quiet moan. He slipped his other hand beneath the dampening fabric of her panties, and the book tumbled from Beth's hands to the floor as he slowly slid one finger inside her.

The light from the fire softly illuminated her face as he slowly slipped his middle finger in and out of her wetness, and Daryl found himself almost enthralled with the way her lips parted and her eyes found his, looking up at him through her lashes as her eyelids threatened to flutter closed. He slid his moistened finger up to her clit, and Beth sucked in a breath as he began to gently circle it. He felt a sudden need to pleasure her in ways he had never done before, and he quickly tugged her panties down her legs and discarded them on the floor.

Daryl leaned over Beth on the couch, and her lips immediately found his in a passionate kiss. He went to work on unbuttoning her flannel as she quickly tugged his shirt over his head, and before long, he felt the wonderful feeling of her bare skin against his chest. She was naked, and by the light of the fire, she looked even more perfect than she ever had before. Her hands went to the button on his pants, but he stilled her movements. She frowned in confusion.

"Not yet," he said, his voice rough. "Wanna make this about you first."

She smiled a little as he began kissing down her chest, stopping only briefly to roll his tongue over each of her small, hardened nipples, before continuing lower down her abdomen. He dipped his tongue into the hollows of each hip bone, earning small moans from Beth, and soon he was positioned where he wanted to be between her legs with her thighs on either side of his head. He planted small, open-mouthed kisses along her inner thighs, slowly moving closer toward her center. He felt Beth begin to tense up, and her tension only increased the closer his mouth got to its destination. He glanced up at her and noticed that she was squeezing her eyes shut.

"Beth," he said softly, and she opened her eyes to meet his gaze. "Relax."

"Sorry," she murmured. "I'm trying. I've never . . . no one's ever . . . it's just nerve-racking."

Daryl's eyes widened a little in realization, and he found an inexplicable sense of pride that he would be the first man to ever go down on her. But he understood her anxiety, and he needed her to relax or she would never be able to enjoy the pleasure he so desperately wanted to give her.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, and Beth frowned.

"Of course I do," she answered quickly. "You know I do."

"Then just let go," he urged. "Just relax. Ain't got nothin' to be scared of. You're beautiful."

Beth nodded and exhaled slowly. He felt the tension ease in her thighs as she forced herself to relax. He smiled softly at her, and she returned the gesture, her cheeks flushing a little in anticipation. Daryl lowered his head and began kissing her inner thighs again, working her up to the actual act. Beth's eyes fluttered closed, and though he felt her tense again as he neared her sex, the tension wasn't nearly as severe as it had been before. Finally Daryl placed a delicate, open-mouthed kiss between her legs, causing Beth's breath to hitch in her throat at the feeling of the contact. She didn't push him away, however, and Daryl slowly ran the tip of his tongue over her clit, touching her as softly as he could. Beth gasped; he had barely touched her, yet the pleasure she had felt from one swipe of his tongue had given her more pleasure than she thought possible. She forced herself to relax again, biting down on her lip as his tongue began to delicately swirl around her swollen clit.

When he was sure Beth was comfortable with what he was doing, Daryl moved a hand to the top of her mound and used his thumb to pull up her hood, revealing more of her clit to him. He circled the little nub with the tip of his tongue, gradually applying more pressure, and Beth gave a breathy moan as he did so. He began flicking his tongue across her clit faster, and Beth's breathing became labored and heavy. Her fingers suddenly fisted themselves in his hair, and Daryl had to fight the urge to grin as he realized how much she was enjoying what he was doing. He flattened his tongue and pressed it against her, moving his head from side to side, and Beth had to control herself from bucking her hips against him. The pleasure was almost too intense, and she could feel that she was already close to orgasm.

Daryl could sense she was close, too. Her thighs were twitching and her grip had tightened on his hair. He paused for a brief moment and slid two fingers inside her, and Beth let loose a loud moan when he returned his tongue to her clit. He alternated between light, fast licks and more pressure with the flat of his tongue while he pumped his fingers in and out of her. She was impossibly wet, and the scent of her combined with the feeling of her juices coating his chin was making his erection almost painful. He hooked his fingers inside her toward her stomach and began rubbing against her sensitive spot inside, and the combination of his fingers and tongue sent Beth exploding over the edge. She let loose a moan so loud that it could have been a scream, her orgasm tearing through her and making her see stars. Daryl pressed his tongue firmly against her clit as she rode out her orgasm.

Beth felt as though she had tunnel vision and her hearing even seemed muffled as she came back to her senses. She had never in her life experienced an orgasm that intense. She looked down at Daryl, who was grinning triumphantly from between her legs, and she felt that she couldn't even form words to describe how she felt. Her whole body felt like jelly, and all she could do was release a few breathy moans as she attempted to gain control of herself. When she finally felt that she could move again, she feverishly grabbed Daryl by the shoulders and pulled him on top of her. She kissed him fiercely and was strangely turned on by the taste of herself on his mouth. Her hands fumbled with the button on his pants and she frantically tugged them down, needing to feel him filling her completely.

Daryl produced a condom from somewhere, and Beth hardly had time to wonder where it had come from before he rolled it on and quickly sheathed himself inside her with a single thrust, causing her to cry out in surprise. He didn't wait for her to adjust, instead immediately pounding into her hard and fast. Beth clawed at his back and tried her best to move her hips to keep up with him. Both of them released almost animalistic moans as he continued to thrust into her harder than he ever had before. It was almost painful when he bottomed out inside her, but Beth didn't care. An orgasm was quickly building inside her and she didn't want him to stop.

It didn't take long before Beth felt herself reach her peak. Her walls clamped tightly around his cock and she dug her nails into his back as she saw stars for the second time that night, calling out his name as she came. Daryl gave several loud, primal groans before thrusting himself as deep inside her as he could go, his motions stilling and his eyes squeezing shut as he reached his own release. He stayed still for several moments until he felt he was able to think straight again. When he moved to pull out of her, Beth hooked her legs around him and held him in place, not wanting to feel the emptiness from him leaving her just yet.

"Not yet," she panted. "Just stay like this with me, just for a few more moments."

He nodded, feeling unable to speak, and lowered himself onto his elbows so he could look at her. She was grinning widely, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling, and Daryl felt the familiar tightening in his chest again at the sight.

"You just rocked my world, Daryl Dixon," Beth breathed out with a giggle, and he chuckled, unable to stop his own grin from spreading across his face.

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><p><strong>And now somehow I have to get back to work after writing this. Focusing is going to be difficult! haha!<strong>

**Thanks for reading and please review! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**This chapter is somewhat of a filler chapter (but at least there is some smut!). I haven't been able to update the past few days and I didn't want to leave you hanging for too long. Enjoy! :)**

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><p>Beth woke the next morning to the sound of running water. She sighed and stretched and realized suddenly that the sound meant that Daryl was taking a shower. Beth didn't mind that Daryl tended to shower only every few days, despite their access to clean running water, but she looked forward to running her fingers through his clean, soft hair when he was done. The man looked good in grime, but she loved how soft his hair was when it was clean.<p>

She rolled over in bed and felt her cheeks flushing a bit as she recalled the night before. The pleasure Daryl had been able to give her with her tongue was like nothing she had ever felt before. The thought of oral sex used to intimidate her, and she had never felt comfortable enough around Zach to let him go down on her. The thought of having a man's face _down there _had formerly made her feel embarrassed just thinking about it. But now, she was incredibly glad that she had been able to let go of her insecurities with Daryl so that she could experience it. Once again, Daryl Dixon had completely changed her idea of what good sex was. It felt like he knew more about her body than she did, and she was very eager to learn more about what she liked in bed.

Beth knew she wanted to return the favor for Daryl, but she was just as inexperienced with giving oral sex as she was receiving it. She knew the general idea of what to do, but she had never tried it. The thought of putting her lips around his large, hard cock actually made her throb between her legs, and she bit her lip in sudden determination. An impish grin suddenly spread across her face as an idea came to her. She jumped out of bed and carefully snuck into the bathroom where Daryl was still showering, the shower curtain hiding her from view. Beth spotted his clothes in a pile on the floor and she quickly snatched them up, trying to stifle a giggle as she hurried out of the bathroom with the clothes in her arms.

She tossed his clothing unceremoniously on the ground and pulled her flannel over her head, leaving her in just a pair of gray lace panties. She settled herself back on the bed and waited. The water shut off a moment later, and she heard Daryl move the shower curtain aside and mumble something, likely profanities. He appeared in the doorway a few moments later with a towel around his waist, looking irritated.

"You take my clothes?" he asked, not failing to notice her lack of clothing as his eyes traveled down her body.

"Mmhmm," Beth nodded. "Didn't want you getting dressed yet."

"Oh yeah?" he smirked, his irritation vanishing as he moved toward the bed. "Why's that?"

Beth rose to her knees and crawled to the edge of the bed. She untucked the towel from his body and let it fall to the floor. He was already half hard, and Beth grinned up at him wickedly at the sight of his growing erection.

"Wanna return the favor from last night," she murmured, taking him in her hand and giving him a long, slow stroke. He exhaled a deep breath.

"Beth, you don't have to do that," he said, shaking his head. "I wanted to do that for you. You don't gotta do anythin' in return."

"But I want to," she said.

"You ever done that before?" he grunted out, finding it a little difficult to focus as she continued to slowly stroke his now full erection. Beth shook her head.

"Gotta learn sometime," she winked up at him, and Daryl shook his head again.

"No, Beth, you seriously don't have to . . ."

Daryl hissed and trailed off as Beth suddenly bent down and gave the underside of his cock one long lick from the base to the tip.

"I know I don't have to," she said, looking up at him with darkened eyes. "I want to. And it seems like you also want me to," she teased, giving his erection a squeeze with her hand.

Daryl grunted in response, unable to say anything else. Beth gave him another devilish grin and grabbed his arms, pulling him down onto the bed with her. She maneuvered him so that he was sitting with his back against the wall by the pillows, and she placed herself between his legs, staring up at him through her lashes with his erect manhood inches from her soft mouth.

"I'm learning as I go," she said. "Please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong."

"Just don't use your teeth," Daryl muttered, and Beth giggled.

"Roger that."

She propped herself up better on her elbows and took firm hold of his shaft, glancing up at him to see him watching her with darkened eyes, his pupils bleeding out into the icy blue. Beth licked her lips and looked back to his cock in front of her. She tried to remember the pointers she had read in women's magazines over the years, but decided to just go with it. There was no way she would be able to fit all of him in her mouth (it wasn't as if she was going to try to deep throat him on her first try), so she kept a hand wrapped around the base of his shaft as she tentatively placed her lips around the head of his cock. She sucked on the head a few times and then began to swirl her tongue delicately around the tip as she took more of him in her mouth. Daryl released a long breath, and she glanced up at him to see that he was watching her hungrily. The expression on his face gave her a boost of confidence.

She lowered her mouth and took as much of him as she could, pulling back up just before she felt herself almost gag. She moved her mouth up and down slowly, loving the way his hardness felt between her lips. She began moving her hand in sync with her mouth to make up for the length of him she was not able to take in her mouth, and Daryl groaned a little at the feeling. The sound encouraged her, and she increased her pace slightly. She sucked on the head every now and then as she came back up, and Daryl's breathing became heavier. Beth remembered how much she had enjoyed the way Daryl had varied the motions of his tongue the night before, and she began taking small breaks from moving her head up and down to lick the length of him, swirling her tongue around the tip. She remembered reading that the head was more sensitive than the rest, and she made sure to pay extra attention to it. After a few minutes, Daryl began to tense, his hands clutching the sheets around him tightly.

"Beth, you better stop," he croaked out.

She looked up at him and met his eyes, but didn't stop her ministrations. She maintained eye contact while she continued to move her mouth up and down his length, using the tip of her tongue to stimulate his sensitive tip each time she reached the top of his shaft. She wanted him to cum; she wanted to find out what he tasted like. The thought was strangely erotic to her, and she felt herself throb between her legs as he tensed up more.

"Beth, I'm serious, I'm gonna—"

Spurts of warm liquid hit the back of her throat suddenly, and Beth made sure to keep her lips tightly sealed around Daryl's cock. He moaned as he released himself in her warm mouth, and he was surprised when she swallowed every last drop. She sat up when he was finished and grinned at him mischievously, the salty-sweet taste of him still on her tongue.

"Fuck, Beth," Daryl panted. Her lips were swollen and pink, and he was in awe of her. "You sure you never done that before?"

She nodded and her grin became wider.

"That means it was good, right?"

Daryl released a deep breath, feeling almost lightheaded.

"Better than good."

She beamed at him, feeling happy with herself. Daryl shook his head and pulled her down to his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and held her to him.

"You're somethin' else," he muttered, and Beth laughed a little. "Gonna take a minute before I'm ready to go again, but I can take care of you in a minute, too."

"It's okay," Beth smiled up at him. "I'm actually a little tender from last night. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing, but I'm feeling the aftereffects today."

"You know I can get you off without being inside you at all," Daryl smirked, and Beth flushed a little, knowing all too well how skilled he was in that department.

"I know, but really, it's fine. You made last night about me, so I wanted to make this morning about you. But I'll take a raincheck for later today."

Daryl nodded and planted a soft kiss on the side of her head. Beth snuggled closer to him and enjoyed how warm his skin felt against hers. The cabin was quite chilly that morning, just another constant reminder that winter was upon them.

"We're gonna need to make more tripods for drying meat today. Got a lot of venison to dry. With the temperatures the way they are, it can probably keep outside for a few days, but just in case things warm up, I wanna dry as much as we can."

"Okay. I'll help you make more tripods," Beth agreed. She shivered a little at the thought of going outside in the cold and decided that despite Daryl's hesitance to go on any runs in the near future, coats were a necessity. Layering up in old flannel shirts only did so much, and she was growing weary of constantly freezing whenever she had to go outside for something, especially the long treks through the woods when Daryl made her accompany him to go hunting. She propped herself up on her elbow to look at him.

"We need to go out and find coats," she said. Daryl didn't reply, and Beth could sense his resistance to the idea. "I know you aren't keen on the idea of making a run, but it needs to happen. It's only going to get colder and neither of us have a winter coat to keep us warm outside."

Daryl sighed. "I know. It can wait another week or so though."

Beth huffed a little in irritation. "Maybe you're fine with just layering up on shirts, but I'm tired of freezing. And if you're going to keep making me come with you to hunt, I want a coat, Daryl."

"I know. Going out on a run just makes me nervous. I wanna put it off as long as we can."

"What if we have to run or something?" Beth said. "What if a herd comes through, or Cara's attackers find us and we have to make a quick getaway? Without coats, we wouldn't last long out in the elements. It's stupid not to have them, Daryl. We have to be able to protect ourselves just in case we're forced out of our shelter."

Daryl nodded. He hadn't thought about that scenario. "You're right," he sighed.

"We don't even have to go all the way into a town. We could just raid a few houses on the outskirts of Greenville or something. They're bound to have something. The coats don't have to fit well or anything, we just need something."

"Okay," Daryl reluctantly agreed. "We'll check out a few houses."

"Can we go today?"

Daryl exhaled, wishing he could put off this run for longer, but knowing Beth wouldn't give up until he agreed.

"All right. Let's get it over with today."

Beth smiled triumphantly and Daryl rolled his eyes at her.

"Let's get moving then," she said happily. "After a quick breakfast, we'll head out. If we find something usable right away, we can head back here with plenty of time to start drying the venison, too."

Daryl nodded and stood from the bed to get dressed, Beth following suit. He knew she was right, they really did need winter coats, but the thought of leaving the cabin made him uneasy. He hated not knowing how close Cara's attackers were. He hoped they had moved on from the area, but if they really were the same group as Randall's, it would seem that the group hadn't wandered far in the past year. He hoped that Beth's idea of just raiding houses on the outskirts of town would allow them to avoid any encounters, but he couldn't help feeling nervous about the whole thing. They hadn't left the cabin since they had found Cara. His need to protect Beth was stronger than ever as his feelings grew for her, and he hated not knowing if he would be able to keep her safe.

He sighed heavily and tried to take Beth's lead and be more positive about the whole thing. Just a quick run and they would be back. The initial outbreak had been in summer, so the houses would be bound to still have some coats stashed away somewhere. Daryl tried to convince himself that nothing bad would happen, that they would be back with coats in hand before midday. But convincing himself of that was harder said than done.

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><p><strong>Don't freak out too much. Daryl is just being paranoid. I'm not sure I'm ready to throw more conflict into the story just yet. It will come, but probably not in the next chapter. <strong>

**Also, just to clarify the timeline of events in this story, Daryl and Beth have been at the cabin for a little over a month now. I know I've had some chapters all spanning one day and others that skip ahead in time, so I just wanted to clear that up for anyone who is confused about the timeline. :)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Happy Grammar Day, everyone! For editors like me, this day is sacred. Haha! **

**This chapter is super long because I haven't been able to update recently! It also gets a little dirty toward the end, so just a heads up. ;)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>The pair was silent on the drive toward Greenville. Daryl was absentmindedly chewing on his thumbnail as he drove, indicating that he was nervous. Beth knew he had a good reason to be uneasy, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling happy that he had agreed to this run. She was tired of being cold and she was ready to put a stop to it. She also couldn't help hoping that they would find other potential goodies while raiding houses. Her spirits were all in all quite high, despite Daryl's obvious anxiety about the whole trip.<p>

As they neared the sign indicating that Greenville was five miles ahead, Daryl began to slow down a bit. He remembered from the last time they had come to this town that there weren't many houses on the north side of town where the highway entered. He noticed a county road up ahead and slowed to turn down the road. Any houses along this road would be isolated enough that he wouldn't feel too uneasy checking them out. He glanced at Beth and took notice of her pleasant expression. He hoped that she would have cause to keep her good mood after their task.

"There," Beth said suddenly, pointing up ahead. "Looks like a driveway."

Daryl slowed down and pulled into the private drive Beth had identified. The driveway was long and lined with trees, and the now unkempt and unruly yard looked like it had once been very well maintained. An impressive white house loomed up ahead with large white pillars adorning the spacious porch.

"Looks like a damn plantation house," Daryl muttered.

"Maybe it was," Beth shrugged. "It looks old."

Daryl pulled to a stop near the brick steps that led up to the porch. He and Beth climbed out of the truck with their weapons at the ready. The land around the large house seemed quiet, and the house appeared to have been abandoned for some time as the shutters were all closed tightly on the windows. Still, Daryl was wary, and he kept his crossbow ready as they climbed the porch steps and approached the front door. Beth pulled her pink hammer out of her belt loop and held it ready as Daryl pounded loudly on the door.

They waited a few moments, but heard no movement inside. Daryl tried the door, but it was locked. He sighed and glanced at Beth, who had a determined expression on her face.

"Ready?" he asked, and she nodded. Daryl gave the door a swift kick, followed by another, and it smashed open. He held a finger up to stop Beth from entering and waited. The house seemed quiet inside, but it was a large house, and they had no idea what could be lurking inside. Cautiously he stepped forward into the dusty neglected house. He whistled loudly, but still nothing came.

"Let's clear the first floor. Stay behind me," Daryl ordered.

Beth nodded and followed behind him as they began systematically sweeping through each room on the first floor of the house. The house was old and was quite grand, despite its lack of maintenance in recent years. It was clear that whoever had lived here before the turn had been quite wealthy. Beth cast a longing gaze at a rather magnificent white grand piano in the parlor, but she forced herself to look away. She wished she could sit down and play it, but she knew the noise could draw unwanted attention, and she would have to leave it be.

It took them longer than usual to clear the first floor due to its size, but they found no threats. They stood in the entryway and Beth couldn't help smiling.

"I'll check the hall closet for coats," Beth said. "You start raiding the kitchen."

Daryl nodded and made his way over to the spacious kitchen, leaving Beth in the entryway. She walked over to the closet by the front door and pulled the door open, revealing a full rack of coats and jackets.

"Score," Beth muttered.

She leafed through the stash of coats, all of them rather ritzy-looking, until her hands touched cool leather. She pulled out a black leather men's coat and whistled appreciatively. It didn't look like a biker jacket, but had a more vintage feel to it. It was thickly lined and the leather was in pristine condition as well. She realized that Daryl would look positively delicious in the leather coat, and she grinned and hung the coat on the door handle to give to him.

Next, her attention came to a beautiful red women's coat. The fabric seemed like heavy wool, but it was much softer to the touch. The color was a gorgeous shade of scarlet, and Beth imagined it would look wonderful paired with a rich red lipstick. She held the coat up to her body and sighed wistfully. It was long, almost to her knees, and fitted at the waist.

"Might as well put a damn target on your back if you're gonna wear that thing," Daryl's gruff voice muttered from behind her.

She glanced back at him and frowned, knowing he was right. A bright red coat like this would stand out against any landscape they would be traveling in. She sighed heavily and put the beautiful coat back in the closet.

"Do you think walkers can see color?" she wondered as she kept looking through the coats. "I mean I know they were human once, but do you think they still see color now in their second life?"

"Dunno," Daryl shrugged. "Ain't walkers I'm worried about."

Beth hummed in response and pulled out another women's coat. This one was black with a sable fur collar, and it was lined with some sort of fur as well. The coat was also fitted at the waist and flared out to knee-length, just like the red one. Beth slipped it over her shoulders and was pleased to find that it fit her quite well.

"Before the turn, I was against wearing fur," she said. "But this is so wonderfully warm that I think I have to let go of that idea."

Daryl smirked a little at her and watched her spin in a circle, the lower portion of the coat fanning out around her. Despite her messy ponytail and lack of makeup, she looked like she was a high society lady or something. It made him remember how different their upbringings had been. Even though Beth's family hadn't been as wealthy as the one who had owned this house, they still had a hell of a lot more than his family ever had. He forced himself to stop thinking such things. As Beth had once told him, he had to focus on who he was now, not who he used to be.

"Try on this leather coat," Beth said, handing him the black jacket she had hung on the closet door handle. "I think it's the closest thing to your style in here."

Daryl scoffed a little, but took the jacket from Beth anyway. He set down his crossbow and slipped the jacket over his broad shoulders. It felt strange to be wearing something so nice, but he had to admit, he liked how it felt, and judging from the way Beth was biting her lip in appreciation as she gazed at him, it probably looked good on him, too. He grinned at her and took the jacket off.

"Good find," he said. "I'll take it."

Beth smiled and went back to rummaging in the closet.

"So the kitchen was a bust?" she asked, pulling out a storage tub that contained gloves and hats. She stuffed a few pairs of gloves into her jacket pocket.

"Actually no," Daryl replied. "Several cans of veggies and some pasta and shit. But we forgot to bring in a bag, so we need to find one."

"Awesome," Beth grinned. She pushed a pair of men's gloves into Daryl's hands. "See? Wasn't this a good idea?"

Daryl shrugged. "Shit could still go south. Let's get what we need and get out of here."

Beth rolled her eyes and Daryl's paranoia and moved past him toward the kitchen carrying two large designer duffels she had found in the closet. He tossed the gloves with the coats by the door and followed Beth into the kitchen where she was already loading canned food into one of the bags. He opened another cupboard and began tossing pasta and dry goods into the other bag.

"The hell is this shit?" he muttered, pulling out a box with a word on it that he couldn't even read. Beth walked over and looked over his shoulder.

"Quinoa," she said. "It's a grain. It's really good for you, too. We should definitely take that."

Daryl shook his head and tossed the box into the bag.

"Figures rich people would eat foods I can't even pronounce," he muttered, and Beth snickered.

Once the bags were loaded with cans, dry food, and spices, they went to put the full bags by the door. Beth's eyes looked up the grand staircase.

"Can we check the upstairs?" she asked. "Please? I know we got what we need, but we might as well look while we're here."

Daryl sighed impatiently, but nodded in agreement. He went up the stairs first with his crossbow drawn. When he reached the top of the stairs, he banged loudly on the wall like he usually did, but once again, nothing came toward the sound. He and Beth quickly cleared each room before he let her out of his sight to resume looting.

He entered the master bedroom while Beth began exploring a room across the hall. The bed was massive, bigger than any bed he had ever seen. He wondered how two people could need so much space. He meandered into the attached master bathroom. He began looking through drawers, but it seemed that whoever had lived here had left with the intention of being away for a while, for there were very few toiletry items left that would be of use to him and Beth. His eyes landed on a large array of jewelry on top of an old-fashioned vanity. He knew the expensive jewelry was worth nothing now, but he was drawn to it anyway. As he looked through the rather expansive selection, a small rose-gold ring caught his eye. It had the shape of a sparrow on it. It was simple and beautiful, and it reminded him of Beth.

Daryl bit his lip, wondering if he should take the ring to give to her. He knew she would like it, but giving a woman jewelry was something he had never done. Jewelry seemed like it should have a special meaning, and he wasn't sure what the implications of such a gift would be. Especially a ring. He had feelings for Beth, but he didn't want her jumping to conclusions. He was still figuring his own feelings out. He exhaled a deep breath as he stared at the ring. Daryl was in completely unfamiliar territory, and he was at a loss for what to do.

"Fuck it," he muttered, shoving the ring deep into his pocket. He could take the ring now and decide later whether to give it to her. Besides, the likelihood that he would come across a gift like this that was so suited to Beth was slim, and he didn't want to pass up the opportunity just because he was second-guessing how she would react to such a gift. He made sure the ring was stashed securely in his pocket before leaving the room to go explore the rest of the second floor. He saw Beth in the bedroom across the hall, so he went to look in the rooms at the end of the hall.

The room Beth was exploring seemed like it had belonged to a teenage or college-aged boy. She went over to a bookcase, which contained far more movies than books, and picked up a few books that she might enjoy reading when she finished the ones she already had at the cabin. As she glanced around the room, her eyes landed on a laptop on the desk. She moved forward curiously and opened the lid. Beth pressed the power button and gave a small squeal of delight when the laptop turned on. It seemed that it still had some life left in its battery.

When the laptop came to life, Beth was faced with the familiar sight of a computer screen that she hadn't seen in years. She was flooded with memories of spending late nights on AOL instant messenger, watching funny videos on YouTube, and stalking boys she had liked on Facebook. Beth missed the Internet. She was a child of the technology age, but that time was now past.

Her face lit up when she saw that the laptop had iTunes installed. She quickly opened the program and was almost excited to tears when it opened to reveal a large selection of music. She scrolled through and grinned helplessly when she came across the Beach Boys. She double-clicked on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and almost couldn't believe it when the first notes of the song began to play from the laptop. Her smile widened until her cheeks hurt, but she couldn't help it. She had missed music so much, and to hear a band she had always loved elated her. She twirled around a little and noticed Daryl leaning against the door frame, smiling as he watched her.

"I always loved the Beach Boys," she grinned at him. "Dance with me?"

Daryl snorted. "I don't dance."

Beth rolled her eyes and moved toward him, taking hold of his hands and pulling him into the room.

"I figured as much," she said. She began twirling around him in time to the happy music. Daryl stood still with a smile on his face, and even though he didn't dance with her, Beth was fine just dancing by herself around him. When the song ended, she bounded back over to the laptop and checked the remaining battery life. The laptop still had about four hours of battery life left in it, so she quickly shut it down and snapped the lid shut, slipping the computer under her arm.

"I'm taking this," she stated happily.

"Why?" Daryl grunted. "Ain't got no use for that."

"Sure we do. It's got about four hours of battery life left in it, and that's four hours of listening to music I thought I would never hear again. That makes it totally worth taking."

Daryl rolled his eyes in amusement. "All right, we'll take it. Nothin' worth takin' in the other rooms up here. Let's get out of here."

Beth grabbed the books she wanted to take and followed Daryl out of the room with the books and laptop stashed under her arm. They made their way downstairs and quickly loaded the duffel bags and coats into the truck. Beth was still smiling as they began driving away from the house and back toward home.

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><p>The sound of music drifting through the cabin was odd to Daryl. He was used to Beth's singing, but actual recorded music from before the turn felt out of place to him. After spending the rest of their day making tripods and drying venison, they were now both stretched out on the couch after dinner, Beth already in her comfy sleep flannel, looking through the computer with music from iTunes playing in the background. Beth was looking through the photos on the computer, which she had placed on the coffee table in front of them. Some were personal photos from the young man who had owned the computer, and some were funny images he had saved from the Internet. Daryl had never owned his own computer even before the turn, so he let Beth do all the exploring.<p>

Beth gave a little gasp when she came across some images of naked women. Daryl snorted a little at her reaction, giving her a playful nudge.

"Too dirty for your innocent eyes?" he joked, and Beth rolled her eyes.

"Shut up. Just wasn't expecting it," she retorted as she continued to flip through the images. "Wow. I wish I could have boobs like those."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the busty naked woman on the screen.

"Nah, that's too much. I like your tits. Small and perky, just like you."

Beth laughed and leaned into him. "I don't know if you're just sayin' that to make me feel better, but I'll take it either way."

She flipped through a few more images before an idea came to her.

"If this guy had all these photos saved, I wonder if there's porn on here," she mused. Daryl arched an eyebrow at her as she navigated to the videos saved on the hard drive. Sure enough, several pornographic stills popped up the screen, likely illegally downloaded from the Internet at some point. Beth glanced at Daryl, feeling adventurous.

"We should watch one," she suggested.

"Seriously?" Daryl said. He hadn't ever been into porn much (unlike Merle, who sometimes had porn on his TV as background noise), but the thought of watching a dirty movie with Beth was actually tempting. She looked at him with her innocent, wide blue eyes and nodded.

"Which one should we watch?" Beth asked excitedly.

"You pick."

"I've never seen porn before," Beth confessed, blushing a little.

"Never?"

Beth shook her head. "I was always curious, but I was afraid that someone would walk in or find it in my search history or something, and the thought of that was too mortifying."

Daryl chuckled and shook his head at her.

"Well, it's time to pop your porn cherry, girl."

Beth giggled and randomly selected one of the videos. It was only about fifteen minutes long, and Beth instantly blushed when the video opened with a shot of a woman laying spread-eagled on a bed playing with herself. The camera moved closer to her and zoomed in to show the woman's fingers working her clit in explicit detail while she moaned loudly. Beth's blush deepened, and she glanced at Daryl, who was watching her instead of what was on the screen.

"It's so . . . vulgar," Beth murmured, and Daryl laughed a little at her.

"Well, what'd you expect?"

Beth put her hands over her warm cheeks and shrugged. She wasn't sure why the sight of another woman pleasuring herself was embarrassing for _her. _She told herself to grow up and stop blushing, but she couldn't help it. The woman's sounds started increasing in volume as she continued to play with herself, her moans throaty and loud. Beth couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Nobody moans like that when they masturbate," she scoffed.

"How do you know?"

"Oh come on," Beth rolled her eyes again. "It's so fake."

"That's what porn is. Fake," Daryl shrugged. "Maybe that's why I wasn't really into it much. It just never seems real."

Beth nodded in agreement, her attention suddenly snagged by the video once more as a man appeared on the screen. He was also naked and his abnormally large penis was erect as he crawled toward the woman on the bed. The man placed his face between the woman's legs, and Beth bet her lip as she recalled the feeling of Daryl doing that very act to her just the day before. Daryl shifted next to her and laid back against the armrest, pulling Beth back against his chest and running his hands over her bare legs.

"What are you doing?" she murmured, her eyes still on the screen.

"What's happenin' in the video might be fake, but I'm gonna give you somethin' real," he said quietly in her ear, his voice low. Beth felt the familiar heat in the pit of her stomach at the sound of his voice, and she made no move to stop him when his touch wandered between her legs. He slipped his fingers beneath her panties and stroked the outside of her slit a few times.

"Feels like you're enjoying what you're watching," he growled in her ear. "Dirty girl."

Beth blushed again, but didn't deny it. He pushed his middle finger inside her, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Beth kept her eyes on the screen as Daryl slowly pumped his finger in and out of her. The man in the video had risen from between the woman's legs, and she took immediately took him in her mouth. Beth's eyes widened as she watched the woman swallow nearly the entire length of the man's huge cock.

"I don't think I'll ever be that good," she said, her voice somewhat breathless from Daryl's ministrations between her legs.

"Don't need to be," Daryl muttered. "What you did this mornin' was perfect."

Beth watched the woman in the video and tried to take mental notes of what she was doing. The woman was using one of her hands to palm the man's balls as she sucked him, which intrigued Beth. She decided she would have to try that on Daryl later. The scene continued for several minutes, and the man in the video finally pulled the woman off of him by her hair and pushed her down onto all fours. Beth's mouth fell open a little as the man delivered a hard smack to the woman's ass, followed by a few more. She couldn't help wondering what it would feel like for Daryl to spank her, and she actually grew wetter at the thought. Daryl slipped a second finger inside her, curling both of them toward her stomach as he moved. She could feel his erection against her lower back and was glad to know he was just as turned on as she was.

Beth's breathing was becoming heavy as she watched the man on the screen ruthlessly thrust himself into the woman's pussy from behind, periodically delivering more smacks to her ass as he moved. Daryl began moving his thumb against Beth's clit, and Beth let out a soft moan. Part of her wanted to close her eyes and give herself to the pleasure Daryl was giving her, but the other part of her couldn't stop watching the video in front of her. She had never seen something so dirty, and the fact that Daryl was pleasuring her while she watched it was making Beth even more aroused.

The man in the video pulled the woman's ass cheeks apart and ran his thumb between them, causing Beth's mouth to drop a little. She knew some women liked to be touched there, but actually seeing it was a bit of a shock for her. She watched as the man penetrated the woman's ass with his finger, and she couldn't comprehend how such a thing could feel good. She also couldn't comprehend why watching it was turning her on further. It was as if she was witnessing something forbidden, and the fact that she thought she wasn't supposed to like seeing it had the opposite effect.

Beth could feel herself getting close to orgasm, her breath coming in sharp pants as Daryl's fingers expertly pleasured her. She could feel how incredibly wet she was, and she couldn't believe how aroused watching porn had managed to make her. Her eyes fluttered shut as she reached her release, giving breathless moans as Daryl worked her through her climax. When she opened her eyes again, the couple on the screen had changed positions, but Beth was no longer focused on the video.

She flipped around to face Daryl and wasted no time in unfastening his pants and pulling his erection free. While she quickly tugged down her panties, Daryl reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a condom, which he quickly tore open and rolled on. Beth climbed on top of Daryl with her legs straddling him on either side. She aligned his tip with her dripping entrance and slowly slid down onto him, both of them releasing quiet moans as she impaled herself on him. Beth began to slowly roll her hips, unable to contain her moans of pleasure as the length of his cock hit just the right spot inside her over and over again.

Daryl licked his fingertips and reached between their bodies to rub her clit. Beth jumped at the contact, still sensitive from her recent orgasm, and increased the pace of her hips. She rocked against Daryl, trying to get more friction inside her where she needed it. She was getting close again. She could hear the sounds of the porn in the background, but she barely paid attention to them. What she needed was right in front of her.

Daryl suddenly grabbed both of Beth's ass cheeks and lifted her from his lap. He began driving himself into her fast and hard. It was exactly what Beth needed to come crashing over the edge. She came hard, her muscles clenching tight around him and a wave of dizziness washing over her as Daryl pounded into her through her orgasm. A few moments later, he buried himself inside her as deep as he could go and ceased his movements, reaching his own release.

He lowered Beth back to his lap and threw his head back on the couch, worn out. Beth was panting and flushed, and Daryl couldn't help grinning at her.

"We should find a way to watch porn more often," he said. "That was pretty fuckin' amazing."

Beth giggled and put her arms around his neck.

"I feel dirty," she said with a little laugh.

"You are dirty," Daryl smirked. "You're my filthy, dirty girl, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! On a side note, a guest reviewer asked if I would be incorporating the rest of the group into this story. While I don't want to give any of the story away, I will say that some of the group will make an appearance, but not all of them. You'll find out who in due time. :) Please review!<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

**This chapter is super fluffy, but heads up, conflict is coming soon! I wanted to give you some extra fluff to make the conflict easier when it arrives. ;)**

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><p>The days turned into weeks, and Beth and Daryl had settled into a fairly routine life at the cabin. Most mornings, they would begin the day with a hunt, as Daryl would still not let Beth out of his sight for longer than a few minutes. The warm coats they had found a month prior proved to be great protection from the elements, and Beth found that she was rarely cold while outside with Daryl. Her tracking skills were also vastly improving, as was her ability to use Daryl's crossbow. With as much practice as she was getting, Beth was sure that she would be able to go out and hunt down a meal on her own if she ever needed to.<p>

The only conflict they had run into as of late had been a passing herd that had come through the woods a few weeks back. The pair had been inside the cabin playing a card game when they had heard the moans coming through the woods. The herd was large, but nowhere near the size of the one that had driven them off the farm so long ago, and they had decided to stay put and stay quiet to hopefully wait the horde of walkers out. Their plan had worked, and after several hours of staying as still and quiet as possible, the herd had moved on with only a few stragglers getting snagged on the sharpened fence posts outside the cabin. The fact that they had been able to survive a passing herd without leaving the sanctuary of the cabin made them both feel more confident in the ability of their shelter to keep them safe.

Things had been going so well that Beth had even managed to convince Daryl to go on another supply run the week before. Their vast supply of condoms had begun to dwindle, seeing as their lustful appetites for one another were seemingly insatiable, and the pair had made a successful run to the Greenville pharmacy to remedy the situation. They had returned home with another large supply of condoms, as well as many months' worth of birth control pills for Beth. The run had gone without a hitch, and Beth hoped that Daryl would be willing to start making more runs soon. She had almost exhausted her supply of books and she hoped she would be able to go search for more before she read through them all.

One morning, Daryl shook Beth awake from under her large pile of blankets in the bed. The living room and kitchen were able to be decently heated by the wood stove and the fireplace, but the bedroom lacked such comforts, and Beth had piled as many blankets as she could find on the bed to combat the chilly room. Sleeping next to Daryl provided some warmth, but he often woke before her, prompting her to burrow deeper into the stack of blankets when he rose each morning.

"What is it?" Beth mumbled sleepily, not wanting to come out of her warm little haven beneath the covers.

"Come see," Daryl replied with a smile, and Beth sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Why do you always have to get up so early?" she mumbled grumpily, and Daryl grinned cheekily at her.

"This is worth getting up for. C'mon."

Beth sighed again and tossed back her warm covers, shivering as the cold morning air washed over her. She had taken to wearing her old sweatpants she had taken from the farmhouse all those weeks ago, but even the sweatpants couldn't keep the chill of the room at bay. She stretched and shuffled out of the bedroom on sock-covered feet. Daryl had already lit a fire in the fireplace, and it was starting to warm the cold air in the cabin.

Daryl went to the front door and opened it, stepping aside to reveal what he had woken Beth to see. A thin layer of snow had fallen overnight, blanketing the woods around them in white. The snow was still falling, and though it was light, the sight was magical to Beth. She grinned excitedly at Daryl, who shared the smile. Snow was a rare thing in Georgia, and it had been a long time since Beth had witnessed it.

"Wow," she breathed, reveling in how beautiful the snow made everything seem.

"Thought it'd be worth wakin' you for," Daryl shrugged, the smile still on his face.

Beth nodded excitedly and took a step forward out onto the porch.

"You're gonna get your socks wet," Daryl said, and Beth shrugged.

"I don't care. I want to feel the snow on my face."

Daryl laughed a little and stepped forward, motioning for her to climb on his back.

"C'mon, hop up."

Beth grinned and obliged, and she couldn't help remembering the last time Daryl had given her a piggyback outside the funeral home over two months ago. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and leaned her head against him, enjoying the smell of sweat and leather coming from his angel wing vest. Daryl strode out onto the porch and down the steps, stopping in front of the barbed wire fence so that Beth could feel the snow. The tiny flakes melted as they landed on her skin, and she couldn't wipe the smile from her face.

Beth could see Daryl's profile and knew that he was smiling, too. She giggled at the way the snowflakes stood out against his dark hair and wrapped her arms tighter around him. She felt her chest swell with happiness. During the past month, Beth's feelings for Daryl had only grown stronger, and for the past week or so, she had been questioning whether she was still falling in love with him or whether she was already there. She had never been in love with a man before, and she wasn't sure when things changed from _falling_ for someone to being _in_ love with someone. It was new territory for her, and she wasn't sure how to interpret her own feelings. But in that moment, Beth suddenly knew. She knew without a doubt that she was 100% in love with Daryl Dixon.

The revelation was groundbreaking for her, but she kept her mouth shut. As much as she wanted to blurt out her feelings right then and there, she knew that probably wasn't the wisest idea. Daryl never talked about his feelings, and granted, neither did she, but she knew that such a declaration could make him very uncomfortable. She knew Daryl cared for her deeply; she could tell from the way he spoke to her, the way he touched her, and the way he looked at her. But talking about feelings was something Daryl had always avoided, and the last thing she wanted to do was to scare him away. Beth decided she would tell him eventually, but for now, she was satisfied to keep the revelation of her feelings to herself.

She planted a kiss on his cheek and shivered a little, prompting Daryl to turn and head back up the porch steps, setting her down again when they reached the doorway. Beth flashed him a grateful smile and felt her cheeks flushing a bit when he smiled back at her, something that had to be due to her very recent realization of the depth of her feelings for him. She turned away from him to hide her blushing cheeks and went to warm her hands by the fire.

"You know, it's been about a month since we celebrated Thanksgiving," she observed. "Maybe we should make today our Christmas. So we can have a white Christmas. It'd be a first for me."

Beth glanced at Daryl and saw him shrug a little. She remembered his admission that he had never gotten anything for Christmas during their first game of "I Never," and although she had nothing to give him, she wanted to celebrate with him anyway. He walked over and stood next to her by the fire, but said nothing.

"I could go search for more hickory nuts to candy as a sweet treat," Beth suggested, attempting to persuade him.

"Okay," he said finally, giving a single nod. Beth grinned happily. She leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her as they warmed themselves by the fire.

"I wish I had a gift for you," Beth sighed, but Daryl immediately shook his head.

"Don't need nothin'. I got everything I could ever want right here," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Are you saying that all you want for Christmas is me?" Beth teased, and she began humming the song that had been one of her Christmas favorites. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"You're corny. But yeah."

She giggled and turned to stand in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Merry Christmas, Daryl," she murmured as she looked up at him with a dazzling smile. "My heart is yours."

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><p>The light snow continued to fall throughout the morning. After a light breakfast, the pair had bundled up and headed out to hunt down their Christmas dinner. Beth had also taken a small bag to collect hickory nuts to candy for dessert, and her good mood was contagious. Daryl had never been happy that it was Christmas before, but Beth made it impossible for him not to be. He followed behind her as they walked through the woods, allowing her to take the lead on the tracking effort as he so often did these days, and listened to her talk about her family's Christmas traditions.<p>

Daryl's thoughts kept wandering back to the sparrow ring that he still kept hidden from Beth back at the cabin. He had stashed the small ring in a box of nails that he kept in the toolbox, knowing she was not likely to accidentally stumble across it there. Over the past month, there had been a few moments when he had wanted to spontaneously give the ring to her, but each time, he had chickened out, still unsure of how she would react to it. But now, considering that Beth had declared the day to be Christmas, it seemed like the perfect day to give it to her. The thought of doing so filled him with anxiety.

Daryl had no problems acknowledging that he had deep feelings for Beth. He had never felt this way about anyone in his entire life. She even meant more to him than family, which, for Daryl, was saying something. Still, he found that he was completely lost when it came to describing his feelings for her. Was he in love with her? He really had no idea. He had never known what it felt like to be in love with a woman, and maybe, just maybe, these feelings he had for Beth were just that: love. The thought scared the shit out of him.

Suddenly, Beth's hand on his arm jerked him out of his thoughts. She nodded her head toward a rabbit sitting nearby. It hadn't taken them long to find the rabbit, as the fresh snow had made tracking a lot easier. He slowly handed Beth his loaded crossbow and watched as she took aim and released the bolt into her target.

"Hello, Christmas dinner!" she exclaimed triumphantly. He took the crossbow back from her while she bounded away to collect her kill. As she made her way back toward him, he was struck by her beauty, as he often was these days. The cold had flushed her cheeks, and the snow had collected in her blonde hair and on her ritzy black coat. The way her smile completely lit up her eyes made his heart squeeze painfully in his chest, and he couldn't help smiling happily back at her as she handed him the bolt to his crossbow and the freshly killed rabbit, which he tied to his belt.

Beth held her hand out to him, which he gladly took, lacing their gloved fingers together. They walked back to the cabin hand in hand, Beth still chattering away about Christmas memories, and Daryl was unable to stop himself from smiling the whole way home.

Though the fire was almost out when they arrived back at the cabin, it had heated the room nicely. Beth placed the bag of hickory nuts she had managed to find on the kitchen counter, and Daryl left the rabbit on the porch to skin and gut later. His eyes landed on the toolbox, which also remained on the porch, and before he could rethink things, he quickly opened it and fished the small sparrow ring out of the box of nails. He slipped the ring into his pocket and followed Beth back inside.

"I wonder how much snow is going to fall," Beth mused as she removed her coat and went to warm her hands by the dying fire. Daryl removed his own coat and went to stand beside her, his throat constricting a little in anxiety. Beth seemed to sense his tension and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He cleared his throat awkwardly and felt the back of his neck turning red.

"I, um," he stammered, feeling like an idiot all of a sudden. "I have somethin' for you. Somethin' I thought you might like."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked with a frown.

"I been holdin' onto it for a while 'cause I wasn't sure if I was gonna give it to you, but since it's Christmas and all, I thought I should."

"Daryl, what are you talking about?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small rose gold ring, the sparrow glinting in the light. He thrust it toward her awkwardly, chewing on his lip as he waited for her to take it. Beth looked down to the small piece of jewelry in his hand and her eyes widened. She reached forward and took the ring from his grasp, a smile spreading across her face.

"Saw it in the house where we found the coats. Reminded me of you."

"Daryl, it's perfect," she murmured softly, quickly slipping it onto her ring finger on her right hand. It fit perfectly and shimmered in the light as she held up her hand to observe it. "I love it."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Thank you!"

She lifted her hands and cupped his face between them, bringing his lips to hers for a soft kiss. Daryl could feel the cool metal of the ring against his cheek and smiled a little into the kiss, feeling immensely relieved that she liked the ring. Beth pulled away and shared his smile, her blue eyes staring into his own.

"Who knew Daryl Dixon could be a romantic?" she teased, and Daryl scoffed, the back of his neck reddening again. He could only imagine what Merle or anyone else who knew him would say about this, but then again, he didn't care. Beth made him able to be many things that he wasn't able to be before, and if that included a romantic, that was fine by him if it meant it would make her happy.

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><p><strong>If anyone is curious about what the ring looks like, I got the inspiration from a ring made by a seller on Etsy by the name of ShopEliAndLeah! Since the site doesn't permit outside links, you'll have to look it up yourself if you are curious. It's the sparrow bird ring in 14K rose gold. :)<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**I am SO sorry for the wait on this chapter! I've been very busy lately, and when I had free time, I just wasn't in a writing mood. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Beth could see her breath in the cold cabin air when she woke. Daryl's arm was slung over her waist, holding her body close to his with her back pressed against his chest. She was cozy under the covers, particularly with Daryl's warm body pressed against hers, and she dreaded leaving the warmth of the bed to start their day. Sometimes, the moments just after waking up next to Daryl were her favorite part of the day.<p>

Beth listened to the even sound of Daryl's breathing, knowing it meant that she had woken before him for once. She shifted a little in an attempt to get closer to him. He was shirtless, and the warmth from his skin against her was wonderfully comforting. Even though temperatures had risen recently, melting the snow that had fallen a few days prior, the cabin was still always so chilly in the mornings. Daryl seemed to sense Beth's need to be closer to him, and his arm tugged her further into him in his sleep. Beth grinned to herself at the gesture, loving that Daryl could make her feel wanted even when he wasn't conscious.

Beth's grin grew wider when she felt something hard pressing against her backside. It amused her to think that even approaching 40 years of age, Daryl still often got morning wood. She couldn't stop herself from pressing her ass harder against him. His hold tightened on her, but he seemed to still be asleep. Grinning deviously to herself, she ground her backside against him. She heard a sharp intake of breath and turned her head to meet Daryl's now-open eyes. She pressed her ass against his erection again and eyed him with an impish grin.

"Good morning," she said lightly.

Daryl growled a little in response and nuzzled his face into her hair. His hands firmly grasped her hips and he ground himself against her. Beth wriggled against him, and her movements prompted him to slide one of his hands down her abdomen and beneath the waistband of her sweatpants. She bit her lip as his touch moved lower, her fingers gripping the blankets tighter as his rough fingers reached the spot between her legs. Daryl grinned into her hair when he found that she was just as wet as he was hard.

Beth drew in a sharp breath when Daryl slowly pressed his middle finger inside her. He slowly moved the digit in and out a few times before gliding her wetness up to her clit. Beth moaned quietly as he moved his moistened fingertip in tight circles. She loved that he knew just the right way to touch her, and she quickly spread her legs to give him easier access, throwing her top leg over Daryl's legs so that she could still feel his hardness pressing against her backside. He increased the speed of his touches, and although Beth knew she would quickly reach orgasm if he continued, she wanted more. She reached behind her and palmed his erection through his pants. Daryl knew what she wanted, and he quickly unfastened them and freed himself from the confines of his pants. Beth tugged her sweatpants down and reached behind her to seize his cock, giving him a few slow strokes before guiding him to her wet entrance.

Daryl didn't stop circling Beth's clit as he slowly entered her from behind. Both of them moaned at the feeling. Daryl couldn't believe how wet and tight Beth always was; it never failed to turn him on beyond belief. He set a slow, steady pace, plunging his length into her as deep as he could go with each thrust. The feeling of his cock bottoming out inside her was almost painful, but the combination of the near pain mixed with the waves of pleasure she was receiving from his touch on her clit was enough to soon send her spiraling over the edge.

"Daryl," Beth gasped, her back arching and her toes curling as her orgasm crashed over her.

Daryl groaned as he felt her tightening around him while she came. He continued to thrust into her until she had ridden out her orgasm before regretfully pulling out of her slick warmth. He quickly reached over her and grabbed a condom from the bedside table drawer. As much as he loved fucking her bareback, he knew he wouldn't last much longer, and even with Beth taking birth control, he didn't want to risk it. He rolled the condom on and flipped Beth onto her back. She yelped and giggled at the sudden movement, but her amusement quickly vanished when Daryl aggressively seized her wrists and pinned them above her head. The dark look in his eyes made her physically shiver and throb between her legs.

Daryl kept Beth's hands pinned down as he roughly thrust into her, causing her to cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. He held her gaze as he slowly withdrew and thrust in again hard. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were dark with desire like his own, and Daryl couldn't stop himself from increasing his pace. He drove himself into her ruthlessly, his dominance and pace rapidly bringing Beth to another orgasm. She cried out his name again, which quickly sent him over the edge as well. He buried himself as deep as he could inside her as he came with an animalistic groan before collapsing on top of her, both of them panting for breath.

Beth ran her hands through Daryl's hair and sighed contentedly.

"A good morning just turned into a great morning," she said. "I love waking up this way."

"Absolutely," Daryl agreed, still a bit out of breath. He raised his head and leaned down to give Beth a soft kiss before heaving himself off of her and removing the condom. He tied it shut and stood from the bed to toss it in the trash can across the room. The cold air of the bedroom caused goosebumps to arise on his skin, and he resisted the urge to scurry back in bed with Beth, instead opting to get dressed. She sat up in bed, holding the covers against her chest.

"Can I convince you to toss me some fresh clothes?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes in an exaggerated manner. Daryl snorted a little, but went to the dresser anyway and tossed her some clothes. Beth grinned at him in thanks and dressed under the covers before resigning herself to getting out of the warm bed.

She shuffled out into the living room, where Daryl had gone to light a fire in the fireplace. She went to stand beside him and reached her hands out toward the flames for warmth. She couldn't help admiring the sparrow ring on her right hand. Ever since Daryl had given it to her a few days before, she couldn't stop looking at it whenever she had a chance. The sight of it always gave her a jolt of happiness, but it also reminded her of her feelings for Daryl. She wished she had the courage to outright tell him that she loved him, but she was still working up the guts to do it. The last thing she wanted to do was scare him away, especially when things had been going so well between them.

Daryl left her side and went into the kitchen to fetch some dried rabbit meat for their breakfast. He made his way back over to her and handed her several pieces, which she accepted graciously. The dried meat wasn't very tasty, but it was a good and easy source of protein.

"Wanna head out huntin' soon?" Daryl asked as they chewed on their small breakfast.

"Sure," Beth agreed. They hadn't gone hunting the previous two days, as their hunt three days prior had yielded three fat rabbits that had lasted them until the night before. Daryl usually preferred to hunt in the morning; he liked knowing they had meat for a meal later in the day. It eased his mind.

After they finished breakfast, they donned their shoes and coats and made their way outside. The melted snow had left the ground muddy and wet, and Beth grimaced at the mess the mud was making of her shoes. They had barely left sight of the cabin before Daryl released an arrow into a squirrel scurrying up a tree next to Beth, startling her a bit. Daryl gave her a bit of a smirk and went to retrieve his kill.

Beth shook her head at him and took the lead, her eyes trained on the ground looking for animal tracks. The mud made tracks easier to see, but she hated the slimy feeling beneath her boots. She moved slowly and quietly, careful not to lose her balance in the slick mud. She couldn't hear Daryl moving behind her, but she could sense him. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes landing on some tracks that were unmistakable. She looked back to Daryl, who was also eying the tracks with a deep frown on his face.

"People," he grunted. He moved past her and approached the clear human footprints in the mud. They were headed north, toward the direction of the road. "Looks like three sets of prints."

Beth's heart was pounding as she looked at the tracks. Daryl looked up at her, worry lining his face.

"We should head back. Cover our tracks. Maybe not head out here for a day or two. Hopefully whoever made these won't find us."

Beth frowned. "What if it's our people? How do we know it wasn't them who made these tracks?"

Daryl shrugged. "We don't."

"Then . . . then why don't we follow them and find out?" she asked. Daryl's expression hardened.

"Cause I really don't want to follow 'em to find out it ain't them. What if it's the people we've been hopin' to avoid?"

"But what if it isn't? What if it's people from our group? What if we miss them because we're too busy hiding from something that might not even be a threat anymore?"

Daryl stalked over to Beth, his brow creased with worry. "Other people are _always_ a threat, Beth," he growled. "I know you'd like to think these tracks might be from people in our group, but chances are, they ain't. I'm not riskin' putting ourselves in harm's way just to find out."

"If that's the way you're going to be, then we'll never find our group," Beth snapped. "If you're so set on avoiding all other people, how will we ever find them?"

Daryl gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"Do you even want to find them anymore?" Beth asked.

"Course I do," Daryl sighed. "But I ain't about to put you at risk to do it. I'm sorry, Beth, but that's just the way it is."

Beth narrowed her eyes. "Since when is your word final? You are _not_ in charge of me, Daryl. I have just as much say in this as you do."

"Not in this," Daryl argued. "We ain't followin' these tracks. We're goin' back to the cabin, and if I gotta tie you up to keep you there, so be it."

Normally, Beth would have made a sexual joke about Daryl's comment, but she was too upset with him to do so. He wasn't her keeper, they were in this together as partners in survival and life. She couldn't believe he had the gall to try to make decisions for the both of them without even considering her input. She was her own person and a grown adult, not a child in Daryl's care. And the fact that he wouldn't even consider the notion that the footprints could have been made by their long lost family was beyond disappointing for her. It was as if he had given up on them completely, and it made her feel lost and sad.

Beth knew they hadn't exactly been making any efforts to find their group while spending the winter at the cabin. She also knew that she had been selfishly enjoying living with Daryl on their own, and she wasn't sure she was ready for how things would inevitably change if or when they were reunited with their group. But regardless of these facts, she still wanted to find them. In her naïve and hopeful mind, she had imagined that they would safely spend the winter in their secluded cabin and then somehow reunite with their group when spring came. Such a dream was ridiculous if she really thought about it, but her hopeful side couldn't let it go. She wasn't ready to let her family go, and it seemed as though Daryl already had.

"You think we'll never see them again. Don't you?" Beth asked. Her angry tone had softened and now just sounded sad. Daryl sighed heavily.

"I dunno. We been separated from 'em for months now, Beth. Who knows where they are now, or even if any of 'em even made it out of the prison. We got no idea. I know you still wanna find 'em, but the chances that these tracks were made by any of 'em are pretty slim. You gotta know that."

Beth said nothing, her gaze drifting back to the tracks leading north. She knew Daryl was probably right, but the hopeful side of her couldn't let it go so easily. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought about the reality of what Daryl was saying. The chances of the tracks being from their group were low, as he said, but there was still a chance. However Daryl's determined expression and stubborn stance made it clear to her that she would never know. She sighed heavily and turned away from Daryl and the tracks, making her way back toward the cabin without a word.


End file.
